


Boys Next Door

by thiamma



Series: From SSC to TWO - Stories about guns and coffee [2]
Category: Army Of Two (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, OC-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2018-08-28 10:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8443171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiamma/pseuds/thiamma
Summary: [2005] Imagine moving in a new neighborhood and slowly discovering the men living next door are... weird. Maybe even dangerous. There's a mystery, here... Time to unravel it!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I still adore this game and this fandom, and this time I'm attempting to write in English, so you can actually understand what's happening x)  
> I'm playing with my own OCs, and Kate will be at the center of this story. Not a mary-sue, just a regular civilian discovering the mercs' world.  
> I hope you'll enjoy this story, please give it a try!

“I think that was the last one!”

Kate looks around, really looks at her new apartment for the first time.

Her first apartment.

Something heavy flips in her stomach, and she tries to ignore it. To just let the surroundings sink in. Even now, a full week after getting the news, she still has trouble to accept it. To accept that her dreams and Mike’s could be feasible so quickly. That they can have their own place.

The apartment is big, she realizes suddenly. Bigger that what she thought when she visited it a few weeks before. Maybe her imagination plays her, again.

Except that when she turns on herself, she’s finding that all of her furniture is waiting for her in the lobby. Everything she owns literally fits in there, and she resists the urge to lift her arms to the sky in defeat. Even with Mike’s stuff in addition, the rooms will look _so empty_ , she knows it already.

She decides to do something useful instead of mopping, and moves the boxes to put them in their designated room. She sorts out the boxes and walks from room to room. The single fact that her new home has _rooms_ – plural – is mind-boggling in itself. No more shared bathroom and kitchen with other students, no more neighbors who’ll party until dawn, leaving her exhausted. No more squatting at her boyfriend’s place and bearing with the nosy roommates they had to live with. She can practically _sense_ her spirits rise as she inspects the rooms one by one. She’s practically skipping when she reaches her bedroom – their bedroom. She looks inside, and here is her boyfriend, bend around the headboard of their bed, a look of intense concentration on his face.

A wave of affection takes her as she looks at him, her boyfriend, the man of her life. She smiles and hops on the mattress lying on a corner of the room. Mike looks up and smiles at her.

“Last one in?”

“Yep!” She’s actually happy that phase is over, the boxes were kind of heavy. She has too many books for her own good. “All the boxes are in, and you finished with the furniture too! We’re the best or what?”

Mike laughs and straightens with a wince. Kate raises her arms to make him go to her. It works and she smiles again as he’s reaching her, all energy and joy in his eyes. God, she loves him when he’s like that. She puts her hands on his hips and he smirks at her, taking one of her hand in his to make her stand up. Kate pouts but lets him have his way. They’re far too close from each other and their nose bump, making them laugh.

“Can you imagine?” Mike says while taking her in his arms, “That’s our room… Like… Literally, _our_ room!”

Kate laughs at his tone, at the stars she sees in his eyes.

“No more roommates that’ll knock on ungodly hours.”

“No more weird noises from the room next door!”

“No more finding unknown girls at the breakfast table.”

“Aw, you’re making me dream, here. If I had to let one more of these poor girls out on the morning, I’d have snapped and punched Chris for real, this time.”

Kate looks at him and bursts on laughing. “Oh, I’d have paid good money to see that!”

Mike shrugs. “I could do it, you know! Right on the nose.”

“Sure, you can,” she lies, delighted. That would have made a good anecdote to put on one of her books. Maybe she can still use it, actually. She comes back from her thoughts when Mike kisses her, all fervent passion and anticipation for the future. She happily smiles in the kiss.

When they reach for air, she looks at him intensely, panting a little.

“You know, we finished moving my stuff earlier that we planned.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, you definitely have less stuff that I thought.”

She resists the urge to roll her eyes. He did not catch on her first hint, she’ll have to be clearer.

“And your friends will help moving you out of their apartment this afternoon, right?”

“Well, yeah. We eat and get to work.”

“Sooo… What are we going to do for the rest of this morning?” She takes on her sweetest, most innocent look and reaches for his belt. He can’t _not_ get the message this time.

Sure enough, a light sparks in Mike’s eyes, and he lets out a surprised guffaw. “Really? We have to put the bed together, still. And to put some shelves up for your books. We kinda don’t have the time.”

Kate looks at him and wonders when exactly she fell in love with this dork. She chooses to ignore him and kisses him again. That’s her best argument, after all. Mike’s will seems to melt away quickly after that.

“You know,” she’s definitely panting now, and can’t be happier. It frightens her a little, so she keeps going, bold and victorious. “I know where we can find a good mattress. Brand new, easy to access, the whole deal.”

“Hm hm, like the mattress that’s right behind you?”

“You learn fast, Sunstone.”

She laughs and shrieks with surprise as he makes her fall on her back. She reaches for him and he’s already there, holding her, making sure she doesn’t fall too heavily and she loves him for that. As he joins her, she tunes out her thoughts and makes sure to convey her happiness to him. Their new life together can’t start in a better way.

 

*****

 

A few hours later, Kate finds herself alone. Mike has left for a quick lunch with his friends and she passed on that. As much as she likes Chris and Jimmy, she feels that they’re ultimately Mike’s friends. And actually, Chris warned her. They wanted to share a moment “between bros” before “losing one of their own to marital life”, as he said. Mike had rolled his eyes, but Kate knows him well. He had liked his life with his roommates. The three of them were best friends since forever, and although their studies pulled them in different directions, they had stuck together still.

Kate doesn’t want to intrude on their “last meal”, or whatever loser name Jimmy had undoubtedly called the event.

She sets to work but can’t help from moving from one task to another. There’s a lot to do, Mike was right about that. But she has all the time in the world to do it. She finally reached the end of her studies, finally can get on with her life any way she chooses to.

She sorts out half of a box in the kitchen and smiles to herself.

She can finally get to write her first real book. She knows she can do it. She already has tons of experience as the main contributor of their college paper, and she has also written a lot of tales. They helped her focus on something of her own in her last years in college. She’s proud of them, considers them her greatest achievements, far ahead of her actual degrees.

She finished her studies for her parents, anyway. Not for her. They’d never leave her drop out, but she never told them she wanted to, either. She couldn’t resolve herself to do that to them, not after the financial sacrifices they did to make her college years a reality.

But now, her life is her own. Finally.

She stops in the middle of sorting the box and reaches for her phone lying on the counter. A notification warns her she has received a text from Mike and she smiles at the name displayed on the screen. She replies quickly and decides to finish the bedroom before the boys’ arrival. Their friends don’t need to see the mess there. She hops on the room and puts her tiding talents in practice, making quick work of what is left to do. Soon enough, the bed is put together and at its place against the wall. The boxes are staked in a pile in a corner, waiting for the rest of the furniture to be sorted. She makes a few steps backward, taking in the view. She can see herself living in this room, humming while cleaning up, putting their clothes in the wardrobe, opening the window to let the sun in.

She lets her vision disappear but can’t stop smiling at the room at large, too happy for words.

Absently, she pats the wall opposite of the window, admiring the wallpaper. She’d rather have painted the walls herself, it would be one of her next projects. Suddenly, she frowns, sensing weird asperities behind the wallpaper. Like… well, she doesn’t know exactly, but it’s definitely not some usual dents. She runs her fingertips on the entire wall and frowns. There are multiples asperities there. If she had to guess, she’d go with “bullet holes”. Covered bullet holes.

She jumps as her phone rings in the kitchen, the sound pulling her out of her thoughts. She laughs to herself as she runs to answer it, not wanting to make the caller wait.

She’s ridiculous. Bullet holes… Really, these kinds of thinks only happen in films. Or bad neighborhoods, maybe. Not in quiet corners of Miami. She takes her phone, reading her mother’s name on the display and takes the call, putting a smile on her face. Better not worry her with stupid theories, her mom doesn’t need that to be anxious about her only daughter.

She answers and puts behind all idea of gang battles in her bedroom. That’ll wait, as ridiculous as it is.

 

*****

 

Somewhere else, in the world, an armed conflict has risen, leaving little choice for the authorities but to call for back up. The SSC is always happy to provide mercenaries on war scenes, probably out of the goodness of their heart. Probably.

That’s a conflict heavy enough to require a solid team. Well, the best.

Rios and Salem are dispatched on the scene and make quick work of the rebels, under the awe of the few soldiers who kept their position in the occupied capital.

Salem smirks proudly. He’s used to provoke this kind of reactions but it never gets old. He shows off a little, taking both of his sidearms in hands at the same time and leaving his shotgun and his rifle fixed on his back. No need for that. He sees Rios next to him and senses the amusement rolling out of the other man. He’s that used to his partner that he doesn’t need to see his face to decrypt his mood. Their masks firmly in place, they keep working, tirelessly, unstoppable. Elliot follows Tyson’s lead and smirks again, diving into the action.

The capital is freed from occupation in only a few days. The mercenaries are merciless and gather the soldiers, uniting the troops, providing the airborne back up thoroughly needed to keep the rebels at bay. Elliot sits down finally, the order of extraction being confirmed by Alice in his comm-link, ETA in a few hours. Tyson finishes his discussion with a random guy, some local general if Elliot followed correctly. Having nothing left to do, Elliot lifts his mask and blinks under the sun. He purposefully stayed there and not in the shade, enjoying it and basking his tired arms in it. Maybe he’d tan a little while in there. That’d be welcome, not being the whitest guy in existence standing next to Mr Naturally-Tanned-Being-Hispanic Rios.

He reaches for his phone and switches it on, trying to find a network. His screen informs him there’s none available. Cursing, the mercenary stands up and tries another spot. Then another. And another.

Tyson finds him a few minutes later on a random part of the camp, standing on a chair, his arms up and squinting at his little screen with effort.

“… What are you doing?”

“I’m finding a working network. Fuck these out of nowhere places, seriously. Aren’t we supposed to be on a fucking _capital_?”

He hears a sigh and looks down at Tyson, who crossed his arms and looks at him as if he’s the most idiotic guy he’s ever met.

“What? You capting something, you?”

Rios shakes his head and smirks. “Don’t need to. I already made a quick recap of the mission with Alice over the comm-link. And 8 can wait ‘till I get home.”

Elliot opens his mouth to answer him when his phone makes a bipping noise, making him jump.

“Fuck, finally! Look I got a message! Knew it.”

He jumps from the chair lightly on the ground and looks at his screen, not listening to Tyson’s answer.

Ron has sent him a text message, his screen indicates. He clicks on it and smiles, imagining his small friend from home on his favorite spot at the park. Away from all this shit, spooked locals and soldiers and smell of death in the air.

 

_we got new neighbors!!!! a couple just moved in, old but still younger than U!!_

 

Elliot frowns at the message, taken aback. He types his answer, knowing he’ll be able to send it only later, when he’ll have a better reception.

He feels a small tap against his arm and looks up to Tyson, still next to him.

“What’s this face for? Bad news?”

Elliot smiles and shrugs. “Nah, just unexpected. Heard of new neighbors moving in in our building?”

Tyson frowns and shakes his head.

“Someone in the second floor? The realtor managed to find someone? Surprising.”

“Don’t know the details yet, we’ll see when we get home.”

Tyson doesn’t reply but his frown is still in place. Elliot sighs and finishes to type his message before switching his phone off and pulling it back in its place. He hopes that won’t become another obsession for his boyfriend. In fact, he really, really hopes it.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate wakes up the next morning on the sound of Mike’s phone. His alert resounds in the room and he stops it automatically. He groans and buries his head under his pillow, and in her state of semi-sleep Kate tries not to laugh at him. He’s paying for the late night up now, she knows, and she tries to be sympathetic to that.

Their friends stayed for the evening and they spent the time joking and talking while Jimmy tried to connect all things electronic back online. Apparently it was a matter of life or death, or something. Sometimes, Kate thinks she doesn’t get him at all. Anyway, too much booze, too many late hours, and now Mike is a mess.

He never knew how to say no to his friends. Or at least, how to say stop.

 _D_ _on’t count on me to play the part of the mean girlfriend, pal,_ she thinks with a smirk. His friends, his problem.

She pokes him in the ribs and is rewarded with no reaction at all. Great. He’s going to be late and then he’s going to blame himself all day long.

Kate moves and leaves her bed with regret to go at the window and let in the early sunshine.

“Rise and shine, Mike! You’re going to be late.”

“… Mh? Oh fuck!” A look at his phone is all it takes him to get up with a start, flailing around madly as he tries to wake up and run to the shower at the same time. Kate bits her lips to not giggle and goes to the kitchen. Miraculously, she manages to find enough of her stuff to make a pot of coffee and a light breakfast. It’ll do for now. She just finishes when Mike springs from the bedroom, fully clothed and with his bag in hand. He stops at the counter and takes the raw toast Kate is handing him.

“Thanks! I need to go, see you later, love you!”

He’s gone before she can open her mouth to answer. Sighing, she gets back to her breakfast and looks at the time. It’s still early, but she knows she won’t be able to get back to sleep.

She finishes to eat and looks around to assess the state of the place. Boxes everywhere, leftovers of food from last night… She resolves to get to work as soon as she’s ready to. No time like the present, after all.

 

*****

 

“Boys, do you copy?”

Tyson and Elliot stop talking at once, the long habit of focusing on Alice’s voice in their ear ingrained in them. Elliot tries not to tense, remembering the mission is over. He lets Tyson respond, as always.

“We copy. What do you have for us, Murray?”

“Bad news. Well. Not that good.”

The two men exchange a look at that, waiting for their friend to go on.

“We seem to have a bit of a situation on another scene… Looks like your ride home is gonna be delayed.”

“Delayed?” Elliot grinds his teeth as Tyson answers, looking as unhappy as he feels. “Delayed how?”

“Like… Delayed a few days?” Alice’s voice is distant, as if she’s already focusing on something else, and Elliot loses his cool at that.

“A few days? You kiddin’ me? What are we supposed to do in this shithole for days?”

“Hey, watch your tone, buddy! I’m doing what I can, but-”

“But you can’t do shit, we get it.”

Tyson sends him a warning glance and Elliot deflates under it. He pouts and crosses his arms around himself defensively.

“Ok, let’s take a breath, here. Are we expected to stay put?”

“For now yeah, Dalton’s orders,” Alice sighs, sounding exhausted “I’m tryin’ to get you something more, but don’t expect miracles. Priorities are being given, above my paygrade.”

“Alice...” Tyson’s voice is prudent, his frown is fierce. Elliot puffs and fidgets at the look on his face. “Which mission took priority? And can’t we take a plane by ourselves and settle it later?”

“Hum,” Alice’s voice is hesitant, hesitant enough that Tyson is straightening, listening closely. “I don’t have clearance to look into it. You know how they love to compartmentalize. For the way home by yourselves… Let me ask, yeah? I don’t know of any orders other than ‘stay put’ for now. As I said, I’m gonna ask around, try to see Dalton. He’s over-solicited right now... it’s a real circus here.”

“Tell him we’ve finished here, we can be deployed at another location if they need us.” Elliot straightens and opens his mouth to protest at that, but a look from Tyson stops him. For his credit, his boyfriend seems to think about it and amends “but we’d rather take a plane home.”

“Ok, copy that. I’ll tell you what in a few. Over.”

Elliot groans and stands up, all lose energy over the news.

“She’s so full of it! Seriously-” He interrupts himself when it’s clear that Tyson is not listening. He looks at his partner, who has his phone in hand and is taping away a message rapidly.

“Where did you say you’ve found a connection to a network again?” Tyson asks without looking up.

“This way. What are you doing?”

“Gathering intel. Don’t seem weird to you that we’re left here for now?”

“Weird? No. A pain in the ass, sure, but that’s just SSC being jerks. Nothing new here.”

Tyson hums noncommittally and follows him to the miraculous spot. He doesn’t even have to stand on a chair to capt the line, Elliot notices with a pout.

As Tyson sends his message, Elliot ponders about the situation. The last hours had passed quickly enough, but that was before he knew they were stuck here. Somehow, he thinks he’ll grow bored real soon.

Bummer.

Leaving Tyson at his phone, Elliot wanders around the camp looking for something to do. He is almost short on ammo, so shooting at target is out of the question. Too bad, he’d have given the locals a lesson or two. Maybe even gain some money with well-placed bets.

He sends a stone rolling, his temper rising. That’s a lame camp and he doesn’t have anything to do to keep himself occupied. That’s going to be a nightmare. Even the sleeping arrangements are lame. With so many soldiers around, Tyse and he are forced to sleep in different spots. Lame, lame, lame.

His eyes fall suddenly on a corner of the camp, in the shade of a nearly ruined building. Looks like a group of soldiers playing cards, crowed around a makeshift table. Elliot lifts an eyebrow and comes closer. Maybe they’re playing for money. That’d be a good way to earn some cash. An easy way. He puts on his best smile on his lips and reaches them, ready to include himself in the game, or at the next hand.

Maybe the waiting part won’t be so agonizing, after all.

 

*****

 

In Miami, in her brand new apartment, Kate stretches and sighs contentedly while looking around. The main room and the kitchen are spotless. She finally managed to fix the shelves and to sort all her books. It was near endless and the task had begin to wear her out. Especially since she tried very hard not to open any book. This way lied a worthless day. Not that she’d have minded to immerse herself in one of her series of detective novels, but… Only her will to sort the house out in the faster way possible has stoped her. The music she’s put on background had help, though. It’s good music.

In no time at all after that, the house is clean and tidied.

Damn, she has been right. It’s feeling quite… empty. Not nearly enough stuff to fill in the rooms. They will have to go shopping and bring back more things. Pursing her lips, she thinks about her bank account.

Maybe next month. Or even later.

For now, she really needs to stretch out her legs. She doesn’t want to stay at home all day long. She’ll have time to enjoy her hard work at night.

She takes her audio player and her headset, determined to keep on listening to her music in peace.

With a last look at her apartment, she closes the door and goes out.

Time to discover her new surroundings!

Music in her ears, the building takes an epic proportion. She lets her imagination run free and looks at every corner, every little thing, from the second floor corridor to the staircase. She nods approvingly. The building seems well cared for, and everything is clean. No one is around, though, but it’s a week day… her neighbors are at work, most likely. The realtor didn’t talk about the people who lived here. Kate assumes it’s because he doesn’t know. Nobody cares for things like that anymore… Well, she does. Maybe she’ll be lucky enough to live near great people!

She goes out and blinks under the sun. Miami is sunny and quiet, the street deserted. Well. Looks like she won’t meet anyone today…

She decides to walk around the neighborhood to find nice places to walk or write. That’s the plan, anyway, and she moves, focused on discovering everything she can before the end of the day.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Kate is proud of herself. Her third batch of cookies is perfect. Well… Near perfect. Good enough. The first batches are better forgotten entirely. She works hard on those for one purpose: meeting her neighbors.

In fact, a week has passed already and Kate feels completely at ease with her new surroundings. Her apartment is turning lovely, albeit still a little empty for her taste, and she discovered great places near her building. There’s a park nearby, quiet and agreeable, with a playground. Lots of children come and play, with their parents or nannies. Kate can feel the pulse of the neighborhood in it. She has already tried multiple spots and found one she particularly likes.

There’s also a coffee-shop nearby, but she doesn’t like the idea to go out and confine herself in a small room. It defeats the whole point, really. Also, coffee is cheaper at home. She came in once, to try, but she doesn’t intend to go back anytime soon.

So, really, there’s only one thing left to do. Meeting the damn neighbors. Because it’s scary how she never met anyone, yet. And it’s not a work thing, either, as she initially believed. Nobody gets out in the morning and nobody comes home at the end of the day. Well, except for Mike, of course. He has his last course to attend to at his college in order to finish his degrees. He also has a job in the evenings. So he gets out early and comes back late, usually with more work to finish before going to bed. She’s starting to feel lonely in this building. It’s as if everyone has moved out and she didn’t get the memo. As if she was here alone.

Well, she’s _not_ crazy: she sees the mats at each door, the tag names on the mailboxes, enough clues that tell her there _must_ be some people in…

So she’s got a plan. If the neighbors don’t come to her, she’ll come to the neighbors. Bearing gifts.

… Ok, cookies. Near-perfect-good-enough cookies.

Great plan.

Mike has been supportive of the idea when she talked about it the night before. He knows she likes to be with people and he understands she’s going to become crazy if she stays between four walls all day long.

Armed with her tupperware, she looks at herself in a mirror and smiles tentatively. She feels tense and it doesn’t make sense. It’s just her neighbors.

But she knows it’s a big part. If she gets along with them, it could be great for her. At the very least, she intends to keep things civil between them. She doesn’t want to feel unwelcome, after all.

Getting out of her apartment is the easy part. She lives at the second floor and there are four doors in total in the corridor, including hers. She hesitates and finally goes to the door next to her apartment. There’s no response. Not even after the third time she knocks at the door.

Ok, that may be overkill at that point. Message received, nobody’s home.

The door facing this one brings her no better luck. She knocks once. Twice. No answer. She moves on but stops suddenly. Is that a shadow she sees in the gap under the door? Or is it her imagination?

“Hello? Is someone in here?”

The silence answers her and she frowns. Seriously?

“Hello! I’m Kate, your new neighbor. Is someone home?”

The door at her left opens abruptly and that makes Kate jump. She turns around and sees an old lady. Very old lady. But that hardly matters when she spots a shotgun in the hands of the newcomer. Kate lets out a surprised yelp and raises her arms quickly, her box heavy in her right hand.

“What’s going on? A woman’s voice? Here?” The woman is looking around in the corridor and she is shaking, Kate realizes. Her hands are slipping on the weapon and she has a fierce frown on her face.

“D-d-don’t shoot! I’m the new neighbor!” Kate’s voice is way higher than usual and she tries not to wince, she tries to keep her eyes on the gun, she prays not to die.

The old woman looks at her, surprised. The silence stretches and Kate feels like weeping. The tupperware is heavy in her hand and she briefly wonders why she did not drop it from the start. Well, she doesn’t dare move now so it’s pointless to think about it.

Suddenly, the old woman laughs, a gritting sound but a laugh nonetheless, and Kate feels relief settle in her chest as the gun is discarded and put against the doorframe.

“Oh, that’s a formidable case of _déjà vu_ or I’m not Granny!” the woman exclaims before laughing again. Kate frowns, don’t understanding what’s going on. “You can relax, girl, I won’t hurt you.”

Kate hesitates, then lowers her arms slowly. She feels cold and weak, and she thinks she might be in shock. The woman is gesticulating to make her come closer and Kate obeys, barely understanding what’s happening anymore.

“I’m sorry if I scared you, I thought we were under attack,” the lady’s eyes travel up and down to take in Kate’s body and Kate shivers under the attention. “Are you okay?” the woman asks even more kindly, taking Kate’s hand in her own, “Come on in, I’ll give you a drink, that’ll do just fine.”

And so Kate is dragged inside the apartment, her heart on her throat and shock still running in her limbs.

 _My god,_ she thinks faintly, _I should be more careful about what I wish for._

 

*****

 

Kate leaves Granny a few hours later. The old woman winces as she stands up to go to the door with her and Kate feels bad about it. “Don’t bother to accompany me! I can find the door myself.”

“Nonsense!” the old woman says, her eyes twinkling, “I can walk a little, it’ll be good for my legs.”

Kate smiles and waits for her, looking at the small old woman.

After her initial fright, Kate has learned to know her neighbor a little bit better. Apparently, she’s known as ‘Granny’ and she wouldn’t give Kate her real name. Come to think of it, Kate realizes Granny didn’t talk much about herself. She asked a lot of questions about Kate, Mike and their plans for the future. Kate smiles as she remembers how much Granny insisted on knowing what Mike looked like. To not assault him, she assured, but the smile on her lips and in her eyes told a different tale.

Kate smiles at Granny when they reach the door, and looks closely at the old woman.

“You’re full of surprises. I’m sure I’ll never get bored again, with you living next door!”

“Who, me?” Granny grumbles, frowning fiercely, “what are you babbling at, girl? I’m perfectly normal, thank you very much!”

Kate looks pointedly at the shotgun, still within reach by the door, and Granny royally ignores her. Kate laughs at that, reassured about her slightly nut neighbor. She may be unhinged, but she’s sure she won’t try to attack her. Well, at least not deliberately.

Granny says goodbye and puts the box of cookies back in Kate’s hands before closing the door.

Kate gets back at her apartment, slightly bewildered.

Granny is someone, that’s for sure. She seems very old, and very special. She didn’t have other drinks than brandy in store, and she seems to drink it with a lot of ease. Kate had declined a second drink. Just the first one was enough to make her head hurt. It helped to recover from her state of shock, for sure.

All in all, she just had the shock of her life. But she’s sure Granny is harmless, so that’s that.

She makes a mental note of warning Mike this evening. She does not want to think about an encounter between her poor boyfriend and the formidable old lady.

The thought makes her smile as she lets herself fall on her couch. Enough emotion for today!

 

*****

 

Sitting in the sun, enjoying the early morning, Elliot thinks he can get used to breaks like that. He has initially feared to be bored beyond measure. But it appears the local soldiers are more fun that he accounted for. He has made a few friends, and they all talk English, how about that? They gather every night to play poker and another card game Elliot has never seen before. He suspects the guys have invented this one just to extract cash from him. He never won a hand. Bah, maybe next time.

In the last few days, Tyson and Elliot have settled fully in the camp and they have helped with the reconstruction of some important buildings. It’s not exactly his forte, but Elliot has been excited to learn more about it. He has learned fast. He helps every morning, and just works, talks and jokes with the civilians in charge of the site. At night, he gets back to the camp and spends some time with the soldiers he befriended. They sometimes need a hand against some rebels and the Army of Two goes with them. Tyson contacted Dalton and they agreed on a bonus for the additional time spend here. That’s one of the good parts, too.

Elliot thinks that Tyson is having a good time, too. Well, he’s almost sure of it. But it’s clear that the situation is somehow weighing on him. He has found an internet cafe and spends a lot of time there, communicating with his best friend, the hacker Section 8. Elliot doesn’t bother to check on that. Since their mission in Iraq, two years ago, Tyson has been diving deeper into these shitty conspiracy theories. Nothing can deter him from that.

Better let it be.

He is finishing his cup of coffee when he hears Tyson’s voice booming in the camp. “Salem! Come over here.”

It doesn’t take long to find his partner, in their usual network spot. His eyes are lit in the best way as he looks up and Elliot smiles in return. “What? Good news?”

“The best. We can finally get home.”

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Kate waits until her boyfriend comes home to tell him what happened with the neighbor. She isn’t sure she has ever seen him laugh this much before. She crosses her arms, waiting for him to calm down, a fierce frown on her face.

“Oh my god,” he finally says, taking deep breaths to calm himself, “that was hilarious. Thank you, I needed that today.”

“Have you finished laughing at me?” she fires back, and Mike refrains himself and shakes his head.

“I don’t laugh at you, I laugh at the situation. You must have been scared, I know, but… it’s just...” he bursts into laughter once more and Kate gives up.

 

*****

 

Kate wakes up the next morning with a groan. For once, she didn’t hear Mike’s alarms and she overslept. She gets up and takes a shower, thinking about her last day. Kate bits her lips when she considers what she knows about her elderly neighbor. She wonders whether the old woman is totally nuts or if she just amuses herself by cultivating this strange personae. Maybe a little bit of both.

Anyway, she prepares for the day and gathers her courage once again. She won’t give up on her mission. Granny didn’t eat all of the cookies, obviously, so the mission can still continue with the first floor, right?

 

*****

 

A few minutes later, Kate has to declare forfeit. Nobody is answering, and the place looks rather… abandoned. She never noticed before, but this corridor has nothing that indicates that someone lives in here at all. Maybe it is deserted and the realtor is trying to find buyers for the apartments there, too. She remembers that when they were looking for their place, Mike and her were adamant about not wanting to be on the first floor. By fear of burglary, and because Kate was going to be alone in it most of the time. She wanted to feel safe. Maybe that’s the same for most people. She bits her lips and wonders if they could have landed a bigger place if they had set their standard lower. Then she immediately shakes her head. Their home is too big as it is, they have no use of a bigger place. And she has a feeling she’s going to enjoy this block.

She turns to go back on the second floor when she finds herself almost nose to nose with a boy. She jumps a little and looks at him with big wide eyes. Her heart beats faster in her ribcage for a minute before she has gains enough composure to assess who’s here with her.

It’s a teenage boy and he looks as surprised as she is, but also quite nervous. He lowers his gaze when he notices her staring and Kate takes advantage of it to look at him even more closely. He’s tall for his age. Well… quite tall compared to her. She estimates he has her height, more or less, even if he seems bigger somehow. As if he’s totally into sports. Football, or something like that. He fidgets and nervously puts his hands into his jean’s pockets, and he finally raises his gaze to look at her.

“What you lookin’ at?”

It seems to be all Kate needs to recover her spirit and her good manners. She puts a smile on her face and does a little half-wave. “Hi! I’m Kate, I live in the second floor, now. We moved in last week, maybe you noticed.”

He stares at her and gulps, not answering. Kate keeps smiling and registers that she’s not scared of him. She briefly thinks that may be linked to the fact that he isn’t holding a shotgun. Maybe. She goes on, approaching the teenage boy a little. “You’re living here too?”

He nods cautiously, reminding Kate of a child that has been caught doing something he was forbidden to do. Kate smiles reassuringly at him to make him more at ease. He seems normal enough, only a little spooked. When the silence settles for too long, Kate clears her throat. “That’s the moment when you’re supposed to tell me your name, you know.”

The boy blinks and replies “Ron. I live here.” He points at a non descriptive door and Kate looks at it for a moment, noticing it lacks everything. A mat, a name near the bell… The door is old, too. It looks like someone repaired it a time too many. She says nothing and turns back to look at Ron, still smiling.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ron. D’you want a cookie?”

The teenager looks at her like she’s mad and she waves the box of cookies she’s holding. He looks at it in interest and cautiously walks to her, squinting a little.

“No one told you it’s suspicious, approaching young people with treats?”

She startles and starts to laugh, admitting the point. “I made this batch for the building but aside from Granny, there was no one home… I was going to leave them by the mailboxes with a note, but it’s better if you just take them.”

Ron nods, looking reassured, and Kate can’t help but wonder why he’s behaving this way. He keeps staring at her… He finally takes a few last steps forward and holds his hand. Kate gives him the box and he opens the lid without waiting, sniffing the content. “Is that chocolate chips or the gross fruit ones?”

“Chocolate,” she can’t help being a little offended by that. As if she’d bake gross cookies! She wants to make friends, not enemies.

Ron smiles and Kate is reminded of a child much younger than he probably is. It’s a sincere smile and it’s all she ever wanted when planning her ‘mission’. She could hug him for that, except that will bring more comments about pervs and/or pedophiles, she’s sure. Ron is enough fidgety as he is.

So she calls it a day and leaves him there, with the box in his hands and the smile on his face. While climbing the stairs, she feels already better. At least she made someone’s day.

 

*****

 

Tyson and Elliot are landing on the airport of the HQ and Elliot can’t keep his excitement at bay. Tyson is smiling so he’s probably feeling the same way. They’ve been away for far too long. The familiar scenery is making him positively beam.

“Hey, I wonder who won the big game from last week… Maybe I earned a lot of cash and don’t even know about it!”

The moment the words come out of his mouth, Elliot realizes that 1/ he positively, 100%, forgot about that ‘til now and he’d better call his bookie soon if he wants to secure his money, and 2/ Tyson was not aware of that and Elliot generally refrains from making this kind of comments in front of him. He freezes and sends a sidelong glance at his partner. Tyson is currently looking at his phone and somehow he’s not paying attention at him and pfew that was clos-

“You already got ripped off in too many card games to count, and you’re tellin’ me you lost yet more money?”

Elliot winces. Damn. His attention is everywhere at once. So scary.

He shrugs, not really concerned.

“Eh, we just got a bonus, right? Life’s good, at least let me enjoy it.”

Tyson snorts. “And we don’t have bills to pay? Things to think about?”

Elliot shrugs again helplessly. If there’s one thing that puts him in a panic, it’s this kind of conversation. “Anyway, I hope home is still in one piece.” The change of topic is very subtle, Elliot is proud of it. Until Tyson rolls his eyes and punches him in the arm, a sure sign the conversation is not over. Great.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” his partner replies, rolling with it and making him the best person in the world for that, “nothing never happens in our neighborhood. That’s why I moved in in the first place.”

“Yeah, right. Nothing happens. Except when it does. We got new neighbors, remember? Bright new thing that happened while we were in the other side of the Earth, doing God’s good work.”

Tyson puffs but his phone beeps, drawing his attention at once. Elliot takes advantage of it and runs to the office part of the HQ. He wants to talk to Alice and bring her her souvenir before taking off to his apartment.

 

*****

 

The day is beautiful, and Kate wants to take advantage of it. She goes to the park with her notebook and tries to find an idea for her first novel. Since she moved in, she’s in search of the perfect idea. It eludes her for now and it’s slightly maddening. She absently watches the children running and playing nearby and sighs. There was already someone in her favorite spot and so she’s far too close to the playground to be productive anyway. Some of the children are shouting enough to bring her a headache.

She decides to leave, with regrets.

Maybe tomorrow, things will get easier. She knows for a fact that she can write quickly enough when she’s in a project. When she’s working at something that holds her attention. All she needs to do is find the idea. She’s beginning to feel depressed, with nothing to do all day...

She goes back to her building and climbs the stairs to the second floor. She eyes Granny’s door warily, and reaches for her bag to find her keys. Something on the floor grabs her attention and she frowns, looking more closely.

It’s a note, folded in two and hidden under the mat. She picks it up and unfolds it curiously. She reads the message written in it. And reads it another time. Her eyes widen and she looks around her, at a loss of what to do. No one is visible in the corridor, of course, and Kate shivers. She finds her keys and enters her apartment, locking the door automatically behind her.

She lets go of her bag and walks to the window, to catch the daylight. She reads the note a last time, blinking at the words on it.

The note is simple and to the point, clearly printed from a computer.

 

_You’re not safe here. 2B = dangerous people!_

_Leave while you still can!_

_Consider yourself warned._


	5. Chapter 5

Mike is not enthralled with the note. At least, not as much as Kate is. That surprises her.

“Come on, that’s a prank,” he insists, giving her the note back, “It looks like something out of a lousy horror movie.”

“But what if it’s true?”

“True?” Mike smirks, “I’m not holding my breath. If it _was_ true, don’t you think the person who wrote that would have just, I don’t know… _talked_ to us? It’s not as if they don’t know where to find us.”

Kate nods slowly. Mike’s point of view makes sense, but… Her imagination is already running through the possibilities. They are becoming less and less probable and Kate sighs. She lets the matter drop and puts the note back on the table with a nod. Mike seems satisfied by her reaction. But she’s still not so sure about how she feels about it.

She figures she’ll make her own opinion once she actually meets the neighbors of apartment 2B.

 

*****

 

Elliot opens the door of the apartment and walks into the room, a triumphant grin on his lips.

“Hey, Tyse, guess what!”

Tyson barely looks up before replying “You had a winning bet for your match?”

Elliot stops in his tracks, taken aback.

“Wow… How did you know that?”

This time, his partner looks up and smiles.

“I know you well. And you were going to your bookie.”

Oops. Elliot was so sure he’d been discreet, this time. He drops the sport bag full of his wagers on the table and opens it. Seeing all the banknotes lifts his spirit like nothing else can. God, he loves money. “Well, you’re right. As always. Look at all the cash I made!” He knows he sounds a little surprised besides his eagerness, but that’s because he _is_. It’s been a long time since he won anything, bet-wise.

Tyson rolls his eyes. “You had the money from our mission from the start. Which you lost. And now, won again. That’s stupid.”

“Yeah, but look at it this way: I nailed a mission, spent countless hours enjoying my poker games and _then_ I had the glorious surprise of the win at home! It’s so much better!” Elliot reasons while going to the kitchen to fetch beers. Tyson has an empty bottle on hand so he drops a new one next to it. He settles next to his boyfriend on the couch and bends to kiss him, eager to catch up for lost time.

Then, he pouts while looking around.

“Aw, you didn’t wait for me to clean the weapons!”

Tyson tries to hide his smile, but not before Elliot saw it. It makes the younger man’s spirit lift once again. Tyson puts a gun in his hands and looks at him with a smirk. “I haven’t finished yet. More helping, less complaining.”

“As if you could clean up all of these babies without me!” Elliot answers while he dismantles the gun with practiced ease. He gently pets it, his gesture almost a caress, and Tyson sends him a Look.

“Stop calling them that way, it’s so weird.”

“What? Babies? But they _are_ our babies, Tyse!” He takes a sip on his bottle and smirks at the look on Tyson’s face.

“Ew.”

“Ew? Really?” Elliot lifts the gun and talks at it soothingly, “Don’t listen to him, babe, you know I love you.”

“Can you not?” his partner growls and Elliot snickers while returning to his task.

They have been away for a whole week between the actual mission and the waiting at the camp. Their job allows them to keep weapons at home and they spend time cleaning them in a regularity that is almost ritual-like. They do have a shitload of weapons to tend for. Heavy weapons, especially. Elliot is not sure about how much money they spent on them through the years. Maybe it’s better to not look too closely at that. The truth is, they _love_ weapons. It’s true for him, and it’s true for Tyson too. He’s just less… weird about it, Elliot figures.

A while later, the two men have nearly finished the job. A few more beer bottles are scattered around and they talk about unimportant things while focused on finishing. A knock on the door makes them both look up sharply with a frown.

“Granny?” Elliot asks quietly, but Tyson shakes his head.

“She knocks with her cane and far less politely than that.” Elliot nods, admitting the point. He begins to stand up when Tyson lifts his hand. “I got this.”

Elliot lets his partner leave the couch and he stays where he is. He takes his beer bottle, intent on finishing it before knowing who’s disturbing them.

He looks at Tyson’s back as his partner brusquely opens the door and tries to look past him at the newcomer. He spots blond hair and then the face of a young woman who is looking at Tyson with wide eyes. Interesting. Who the fuck can it be?

“O-oh, hi. I’m-”

“What can I do for you?” Tyson’s tone is his usual no-nonsense and Elliot resists the urge to roll his eyes. The newcomer looks past Tyson and their eyes meet. Elliot squints a little, trying to remember if he has met her before. The woman pales as she stares at the table and then Tyson’s back is suddenly blocking the view, hiding Elliot and the mess from the woman’s eyes.

“I don’t have all day, what do you want?” Tyson asks and it seems to make the woman back in track.

“Oh. Yeah… Sorry. I… I’m the new neighbor. Kate. My boyfriend and I moved in, next door. Er… Last week. I came to present myself and give you these-”

“Thanks,” Tyson moves a little and Elliot tries to not burst into laughter. The poor woman is back at not speaking, clearly speechless in front of Tyson’s manners. Or his face. Or both, now he thinks about it…

When he’s coming back from his thoughts, the door is closed and Tyson is back, handing a box to him. He takes it and opens the lid to look inside. Cookies. Jackpot!

He takes one and gasps as he realizes it’s still warm. Perfect. Tyson snorts and begins to gather the weapons together. “Gross. Your hands are dirty.”

“That’s cookies. Cookies are the exceptions of everything,” Elliot replies while munching on one. It’s delicious and right now it tops his already perfect day. “Why did you blow off the poor girl like that? You’ve scared her out of her mind.”

“What? I didn’t...” Tyson stops and seems to think about it. He shrugs. “She’s the new neighbor. Kate. Did not bother to give us her last name.”

“I’m pretty sure her last name will be at her door and by her mailbox. Wait… Why do you want to know it?”

Tyson looks at him as if it’s obvious. “Background check.”

“Backgr-” Elliot stares at him and shakes his head. “Of fucking course. What was I thinking?”

He stands up to help his partner put away the weapons in the safe deposit-box where they’re stored, in the bedroom. Better not to ask too many questions like that, he thinks. He never likes the answers.

 

*****

 

Kate goes back in her apartment and sits on the couch, looking in front of her, straight as an arrow.

She thinks she might be in shock. _Again_.

This building is full of weirdos. Of dangerous weirdos.

… _What did just happen??_

She heard movement in the apartment 2B, next to hers, and thought she’d drop by to solve the mystery of the anonymous note. She didn’t know it when she baked a new batch of cookies, but she’d been in for the shock of her life. _AGAIN_.

After the elderly woman with a shotgun… The gangsters! Or… burglars? Soldiers?

What the hell was going on in this apartment?!

She tries not to scream, too afraid they’ll hear her. And to think she voluntarily knocked on their door! She must have been mad! She trusted Mike’s opinion on this matter but he couldn’t have been more wrong. She’s pretty sure she’s losing her mind as she stands up in a bounce and begins to pace though her living room.

They know she’s the neighbor, now.

Oh, _god_.

She reaches for her phone and dial 911, breathing through her nose while the connection is made. Then she hangs up, terrified. What is she supposed to tell the cops? One of her best friend from college has been assaulted on campus last year and they didn’t want to budge. And there had been _witnesses_. Bruises to show. What does Kate has? Only a nightmarish vision of their apartment. Of the man who answered the door. Big. Enormous! With cold eyes and a fierce frown, towing over her, looking at her...

She still sees his scars as she closes her eyes. He is disfigured, she realizes. Like in horror movies, psychopaths who gets out every night to pray on unassuming girls and steal their skin…

She tries not to panic but feels she loses it. She jumps on her feet and grabs her bag before reaching the door. And she stops dead, not daring to open it.

A vision of the other man, the one on the couch, comes to her mind. He had a gun in his hands! A big one! And the table… Full of empty beer bottles, guns and cash!

Oh, god, so many guns...

 _Wait a minute…_ _Are they terrorists?_ she thinks with her hand on the door handle. She feels a cold shiver running along her spine and she whines softly.

She intended to reach Mike at his job, but now she’s not sure it’s a good idea. She locks the door instead and takes a few steps in her apartment, disoriented.

She takes the note and reads it again, even if she knows it by heart by now.

 

_You’re not safe here. 2B = dangerous people!_

_Leave while you still can!_

_Consider yourself warned._

 

Well… The note is not wrong, is it? They _do_ seem like dangerous people. Kate grinds her teeth and decides to wait for Mike to come home to talk with him about it. She trusts him to make the right decisions for both of them, but one thing is sure: she does not feel so safe right now anymore.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally they meet! Poor Kate ^^"  
> I'm sorry for my English (not native speaker, here), I hope I'm not making too many mistakes and that somebody, somewhere, enjoys this story =)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After her first meeting with the 2B neighbors, Kate waits for her boyfriend to talk about it.   
> Conversations ensue. Decisions are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! After a nightmarish end of the year, I'm prepared to take back this story and finish it!

When Mike arrives from work, Kate explains what she saw at the apartment 2B. Mike is nonplussed, to say the least.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“I know what I saw!” Kate answers, fidgeting again. She has had time to calm herself before Mike’s arrival, but to relate the events makes it much more real. Mike looks at her in concern as she tries to calm down, to stop biting her lower lip, to focus. She knows she’s close to tears – again, and it’s so pathetic, to be this weak…

“I see,” Mike says, and he suddenly stands up. It makes Kate frown and return to the present, staring at her boyfriend with surprise.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to talk to them,” he says decisively, but he doesn’t have time to go much further. Kate is standing and in his space and clutching to his shirt with a little more strength that is strictly necessary.

“You can’t do that! They’ll kill you!”

Mike stops and looks at his girlfriend, eyes wide. Then, he slowly takes her in his arms and forces her to sit down, making soothing noises until Kate finds her breathing pace again.

“Kate… I’m actually worried. I know I laughed at you about the neighbors before, but now… I’m not feeling like laughing. At all.” His voice is very worried, more than she ever heard him be before, and it makes her choke on her tears. She stays close, in the comforting embrace of her boyfriend, and whimpers sadly while trying to keep herself under control.

“I don’t want you to be that scared of our building. Of our _home_ ,” Mike goes on, and Kate finally lets go of him to meet his eyes, cold with shock.

“I _love_ our home! It’s perfect.”

“Well… Not if you’re scared all the time. If you want to move out, I’d understand. I agree, actually, if the neighbors are this bad...”

Kate’s heart sinks and she shakes her head in denial. They can’t move out. Mike was so happy to find this place, so eager to show her after class… They already have lovely memories in it, and it’s ideal. She knows he’d be crushed to go away. And there’s the slightly problem about a new place to find. While still paying for this one until someone buys it. Kate starts to understand why the realtor was looking so happy when they decided to take it. Why it was so cheap…

Ah. They had been so gullible.

She shakes her head more decisively. She can’t be this girl. The one who is scared of her frigging neighbors and crushes all the plans they had of a life here together. She needs to keep her cool and to stop worrying her boyfriend. Said boyfriend is looking at her and _god_ , he’s so concerned she could cry if she looks at him a moment more. She lowers her gaze and gulps, trying to find her words again.

“No… No. I’m not-, I don’t want that. I want to stay here.”

Mike says nothing for a moment. He sighs. “Let’s talk about it again in a few days, okay? In the meantime, try to stay out of everyone’s sight. Stop baking cookies, maybe.”

Kate laughs a little and dives back into the arms of her boyfriend. Mike tightens his grasp and they stay silent for a while. Finally, Mike strengthens and looks at his watch.

“The guys told me they’re available for the evening. It’ll do you good to get out of the block, don’t you think?”

Kate nods and finds that she kinda looks forward to it. Chris and Jimmy were ever present before they moved out and their easy friendship is something she didn’t know she’d miss as much as she had. Maybe it is a little lame, not having friends on her own, staying in her boyfriend’s circle all the time. She feels her spirits rising nonetheless. It will do her good, she thinks.

After a few minutes, they are on their way to Chris’ and Jimmy’s apartment. Kate knows they have been trying to find a new roommate to replace Mike. She wonders if they found someone. As they arrive in front of the building, Mike puts his hand on Kate’s shoulder and looks at her, concerned.

“If they are too much for you, just make me know and we’ll be on our way.”

Kate smiles “They’re sweet. Stop worrying about me.”

As it happens, Mike’s friends are nearly too much, Kate thinks a little while later. Chris and Jimmy are wild with excitement from seeing their friend again, and Mike is quickly surrounded and showered with compliments. God, these boys are weird. Kate smiles as Chris is vividly talking about how their search for a new roommate is a joke, how people answering the ad are total weirdos and nobody can compete with their bestie anyway.

“You loser, you left us behind! We’ll never find someone at this rate!” Chris lifts his arms up in a dramatic fashion, and Kate rolls her eyes.

“You didn’t find anyone? Really?” Mike is trying to ditch Jimmy’s arm that’s been trapping his shoulders since he got in. He’s having some difficulties but he seems to live it well, an amused smile on his lips. “The fare is not much and it’s so close from college! What’s the problem?”

Jimmy snorts, seemingly already a little drunk. “What’s the problem, he asks…”

Chris shrugs, a frown on his face. “I don’t know, man! The only people who applied were a Chinese guy and an insufferable know-it-all. The Chinese guy didn’t speak English at all, we never understood a word about what he said. The other guy started making remarks about tidiness, not wanting to hear noise after 8pm and stuff like that! Jimmy had to tell him to leave before I lost my cool.”

Kate bites her lip to not burst into laughter and Mike nods knowingly. “I see.”

“No, you don’t see, man! We’re busted if we don’t find someone soon!”

“What about a girl?” Kate asks, and all the boys turn their head to look at her, surprise clearly visible on their face. “What? Don’t look at me like that! Girls go to college too, you know. And you clearly struggle with the whole replacing Mike thing, soooo… I don’t know, that may be something to consider.”

Jimmy keeps looking at her as if she’s gone mental, but Chris’ eyes lit in a way Kate is familiar with. He smiles and points at her. “You’re a genius, Kate! I can ask around about girls! That’s so simple I don’t know why I didn’t think about it earlier!”

Jimmy groans and takes his head in his hands. “Aw, Kate! Look at what you’ve done!”

Kate and Mike laugh at that and Jimmy eyes them with suspicion. Kate laughs louder and she settles in her seat, happy to think about something else that her problems for a while.

 

*****

 

The evening draws out, and the four friends are completely at ease, discussing about their last week. After the now infamous roommate problem, they talk about college, parties and Mike’s job. Kate absorbs all kind of information, and she’s having a blast until Chris turns to her.

“And what about you, princess? What did you do these last days?”

“Urgh, stop calling me like that already! And not much.”

Mike giggles and points at her with his beer bottle. “Not much? You’re going with ‘not much’, really? After all the stuff that happened to you with the neighbors?”

“Ooh, I smell a good story, here!” Jimmy shifts a little and looks at Kate intensely. She slowly realizes _everyone_ is staring at her.

“Oh, come on! Mike!” she protests, but it’s already too late and she knows it. Mike shrugs and doesn’t look like he regrets having put his feet in his mouth. Maybe he thinks it’ll do her good to talk about it. Except she’s not so sure about that.

She reluctantly starts to talk. There’s no going back, now. Unsurprisingly, Chris and Jim are in hysterics about her encounter with Granny. After she told them the whole story, Chris dissolves into laughter and actually falls from the couch, clutching his sides. Kate bites her cheek to stop from giggling. It kinda looks painful.

“No way! An actual shotgun, are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure! I may not be a nut for guns, but I know how to recognize a shotgun when I see one.”

She gulps some beer and tries not to wince at the memory. It had been her first time at the wrong end of a gun, and she prays all the deities she knows for it to be the last time as well.

“Well, you have a weird neighbor, for sure! Will you introduce me to her, some day? Seems like an old woman with a shotgun and a taste for good brandy is right up my alley.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, Chris. For God’s sake.”

Her friend laughs and winks at her and she smiles. Ok, she may be a little proud of the reactions she got from her story. She does love to entertain.

“But, if you wanna know… That’s not all. Something weird happened to me today.”

“Today?”

“Yeah, this afternoon actually. I finally met my mystery neighbors!”

Chris and Jimmy look at her, not understanding her. Kate sighs and turns to look at Mike.

“You did tell them about the note, didn’t you?”

“No, he didn’t. Why didn’t you, Mike?” Jimmy whines and looks at his friend, betrayal written all over his face. Chris sadly shakes his head and talks before Mike does.

“You should know by now to not trust Mike for spreading a good story, princess. He doesn’t have your storytelling skills or your passion for a good anecdote. Out with it, now! What note? What mysterious neighbors?”

Kate puts down her beer bottle and reaches for her bag.

“You didn’t take it with you, did you?” Mike asks her, clearly taken aback.

“Of course I did!” Kate finds the little bit of paper and triumphantly puts it in Jimmy’s hands. While the boys read it, she explains the circumstances around the note and her meeting with the 2B neighbors.

“They… They had what?”

“Guns, cash… lots of cash, actually! And beer.”

“Well...” Chris looks pointedly at the table, now drowned by beer bottles. Kate frowns and shakes her head.

“’t’was not the same. Somehow. And the guy was huge! And disfigured.”

“How is it that all your neighbors have guns?” Jimmy asks, disbelief clear in his voice.

“I’m not making that up! Come on, I was terrified,” Kate protests. Mike moves to go sit next to her, and she takes his hand in hers, comforted by his presence.

“I’m not saying you’re, like, lying,” Jimmy says, raising his hands in peace, “I’m saying it’s a weird coincidence. Maybe they’re part of the same shooting club?”

“A shooting club with shotguns? And… and big guns, too?” Kate asks, frustrated to not knowing enough to identify the type of guns the 2B neighbors had in their living room.

“The United States, ladies and gentlemen,” Chris says grimly while raising his bottle. He’s clearly drunk, and his bottle is not that straight. Kate lifts an eyebrow, but before she can answer she feels a pressure on her hand. Mike slightly shakes his head, and she receives the message. There’s no need to argue with the boys about what she saw. She wonders if she was the one who over-reacted, earlier. Maybe that was not a big deal? Jimmy and Chris seem to find it, if not normal, at least not that scary…

But she’s not crazy.

Is she?

She looks at her boyfriend again, and Mike smiles at her.

“Whatever, Kate, we believe you.”

“No, yeah! Of course we do!” Jimmy protests. His words are slurry, and Kate vaguely thinks he has had enough drinks for the night. They all have, at this point. “I just want to, you know?”

Kate looks at him, waiting for him to finish. Chris pushes him and Jimmy seems to come back online. “Sorry. I was saying… I wanna know who these guys are. Why are they disfigured? Why do they have all these guns. I think the mystery is far from finished!”

“Oh,” Kate says. She blinks and looks owlishly at the boys. “ _Oh!_ ”

Mike groans softly next to her, but Kate doesn’t listen to him.

Now, that _is_ a thought.

The neighbors, they can be anyone! Gangsters, drug dealers, terrorists… Or maybe much more ordinary guys, who have a perfectly valid reason to spend their afternoon surrounded by a sea of weapons. It _is_ a mystery! Even better, it is something Kate can focus on.

As she thinks about it, she senses her fear come back in check. She can’t afford to be *afraid* anymore. She has to _know_. She has to discover the reasons! As long as she’ll investigate, she’ll have the power.

She just needs to be careful. And thorough.

“Kate?”

Mike shakes her shoulder a little and she comes back to the here and then. She smiles at him and nods. Her boyfriend looks at her, worry written on his face. She smiles more reassuringly, and dives into the conversation once again. They changed the subject, and she doesn’t mind. She puts her thoughts in check and away. She’ll think about it tomorrow.

Then, she’ll begin.

Actually, she’s a little surprised to realize how much she can’t wait to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is, a brand new chapter!   
> As usual excuse my English, as it's definitely not my first language ><   
> I hope you enjoy the adventures of Kate, as much as I have fun writting them!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate decides to act. And act big!   
> Now, it's time to announce it at her boyfriend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I'm terribly slow at writing this story, I knooow...   
> But for now, have a new chapter! Things are starting to move forward, finally ^^   
> Enjoy! ^^

When Kate wakes up, she has the distinct feeling that the day will be wonderful _and_ all kinds of awful. Her hangover doesn’t do her any favor. She feels thirsty, her head pounds in her ears, and she’s even a little nauseous.

But she hasn’t forgotten. Her friends are geniuses. Goddamn, real geniuses.

She stands up and groans when the walls of her room move around her. Mike still sleeps, and that’s what she should be doing too, except… she has other plans.

Awesome plans.

After an aspirin and a light breakfast, she takes a quick shower. It helps her to wake up. She’s feeling vaguely human again. Preparing to go out, she hesitates a little on which clothes to wear. She wants to look unassuming and normal, except her clothes seem too… eccentric to do the trick. She sighs and picks one outfit anyway. She’ll have to furnish her closet with random clothes.

Once dressed, she spends some time in front of the mirror, trying a few bags. She finally settles on none. She really doesn’t want to attract any attention at all. She takes a book and, after a slight hesitation, a pad. She doesn’t really know what she’ll need, but she’s sure she wants to take notes. Lots and lots of notes.

She’s ready to take off when Mike appears at the door of the bedroom, still sleepy and seemingly hangover from last night too.

“Kate? What… Where are you going? You know it’s Saturday, right?”

“Yep, I know, and no I’m not staying in for the day. I’m on it.”

He kisses her hello and looks like he’s trying to decipher her words.

“On it?”

“On it,” she confirms, “I’m gonna watch what the 2B neighbors do today, and that will solve the damn mystery.”

“The…” Mike groans and facepalms, “You know what? It’s too soon and, really, I can’t focus on that now. Like, at all.”

“There, there,” she mocks while patting his shoulder. He moves his hand from his face to glare at her.

“You’re not hangover? Not even a little?”

“After last night, I’d be lying if I said I am not. But I want to resolve this mystery, Mike. It’s important to me.”

“The mystery?”

“The mystery.”

“Of the neighbors?”

“Yup.” Mike looks at his girlfriend with a lost expression that makes her smile. She’d feel bad if she wasn’t so sure.

“But… But what if they are really dangerous folks? Kate, don’t be hasty with things like this...”

“I’m not! I’ll stay in public spaces, outside, with people. I just want to know more about them. Their habits, the things they do, the people they see...”

“Are you planning to become a stalker?” he asks her, disbelief clear in his voice.

“No! … Well...” she winces and he groans again.

“I need coffee. Like, lots of coffee right now.”

Mike makes a beeline to the kitchen and the coffeemaker, and Kate follows him. She knows she should probably drop it for the moment, but she really wants him to understand. She doesn’t want to do anything that will degenerate into a fight later. So, she waits until he drinks a cup and tries again.

“Mike?”

Her boyfriend looks at her, feeling a little more awake now. “Yes?”

“Are you mad at me for becoming a stalker?”

“Let’s just say I did not envision this kind of week-end, no,” he admits, and she smiles. His caustic humor is always a treat, even when directed at her.

“But if I don’t do this now, I’m going to think about the neighbors non stop,” she reasons, “Like, who are they? Why did they have so much cash? So many weapons? Who actually lives in the apartment? Maybe one of them was just visiting yesterday!” she warms up to her subject and derails when she hears her boyfriend sigh. “What?”

“I see now that you have this idea in your head.”

“… And?”

“And I know you when you have an idea in your head.”

She suddenly notices his smirk. He’s definitely more awake now.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Mh… No. I just know not to resist the terrible Kate-sunami. Have fun stalking the neighbors, sweety.”

“Aw, you get me,” she laughs and kisses him, grateful to not be forced into a fight this early in the morning. “Have fun today, too! I’ll tell you everything when I come back!”

“ _If_ you come back, think about bringing some milk home, yeah?”

“Ah-ah. If I die today, you’ll have to live with the fact that it’s your last words at your late-girlfriend. It will serve you well.”

“Yeah, I’ll live with it. But seriously? Milk?”

“Milk it is,” she smiles and kisses him one more time before leaving, feeling reinvigorated and driven.

When she’s finally on the corridor of her floor, she looks at the door of her neighbors and senses a shiver running up her spine.

_Okay, Kate, you’re here… Now what?_

 

*****

 

Elliot wakes up gradually, enjoying the comfort of his own bed. Without opening his eyes, he slides his hand across the sheets and is not surprised to feel that he’s, in fact, alone in there. Tyson never stays late in bed in the mornings. Ever.

A nasty ‘healthy’ habit of his.

Elliot groans and wants to go back to sleep, so badly. But his brain is already on and won’t leave him alone. He starts to think about one thing. Then another. Then, he recognizes it at a sure sign he’s up and running, so he sighs and sits up, admitting defeat.

There’s a lot he wants to do, anyway.

When he goes out of the bedroom, he realizes the sun is already out and shining. It’s definitely late in the morning. Fuck. Anyway, he goes about his morning routine and prepares for a jog outside. Before going out, he checks the room that serves as the home office. Tyson is sitting at the desk, as usual.

“Hey, Tyse, ‘m out for a jog. Wanna me to get you something on my way back?”

“Hm?” his boyfriend lifts his head to look at him, but his eyes are kinda glassed out, “Nah, I’m fine.”

Elliot nods and lets himself out. He’s pretty sure Tyson’s not working. Well… not ‘working’ working. They both have sent their reports in, before even taking the flight home, and the SSC hasn’t asked them anything else. No, he’s probably catching up with Section 8. Elliot wants to believe they’re just talking together, or playing a game. But he knows they’re probably deep in paranoia territory.

Well. To each their fun, he supposes.

He knocks on Granny’s door and opens it without waiting for an answer. As usual, the old woman is in. He finds her in her favorite chair, reading a crappy magazine. The familiar sight is enough to bring a smile on his lips. Granny’s never changing, and she’s totally perfect that way.

“Oh, that’s you. Home at last, boy?”

“Yup, we came back, finally!” Elliot helps himself with a fruit from the bowl set on the table, and he sits down on the sofa, groaning a little. “This job’s gonna kill us, some day.”

Granny frowns and stares at him. Her reading glasses make her eyes freakishly big.

“Anyone hurt?”

“Nope, we’re fine, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worrying about _you_. I just happen to have a grocery list that waits. It keeps on waitin’ and let me tell you, it waits for a long time now. I’d hate to see you not able to take care of that.”

“Whatever you want, Granny, I’m here for a while,” Elliot answers while munching on his pear. Granny throws a tissue at him and he catches it, rolling his eyes.

“Then off you go, before you put juice everywhere! Seriously, where were you raised? With a pack of coyotes?”

Elliot laughs and goes to the kitchen where, sure enough, a list is pined on the fridge by a magnet, some sort of island Elliot brought her a few years back. He takes the note and goes out of the apartment, reading it while going down the stairs. She wants the usual, nothing too hard to find.

On the first floor, he reaches Debbie’s door and takes his keys to open it. Letting himself in the small apartment, he finds Ron on the couch, the binders still closed. The kid visibly fell asleep in front of the TV last night. Elliot flips the lights on and watches as his friend groans and shields his eyes, the crude light from the bulb hanging at the ceiling too much for him.

“Wakey wakey, Ronnie! Time for a jog!”

“… Ellie? ‘that you?”

“Who did you think it was? Come on, prepare and meet me at our spot when you’re ready, okay? If you’re not there in ten, I’m going without you.”

“That’s too early, man!” the teen whines while sitting down.

“Outside. In ten,” Elliot says again, and he tries not to laugh but it’s a short thing. Ron seems at once happy to see him, and extremely annoyed to be pushed around this way. Elliot leaves him be and goes out, waiting as he promised in the parking lot of the building.

He breathes the warm air and smiles, happy to be back in his block. Then a new car catches his attention. Well… New in the sense he never saw it before. Because the car is ancient. And not in a good way. He goes to it and circles it, trying to decipher what it’s doing here at all.

Ron finds him there a few minutes later. The kid reaches him and they proceed with their secret hand check before smiling at each other.

“That’s the new neighbors’ car. You know, I told you about them.”

“Ooh, yeah, thanks for the heads up by the way! We met the girl. Emily or Kathy or something.”

“Kate,” Ron corrects him, his smile growing. “She’s cool. Offered me cookies last week.”

“Yeah, Kate, whatever. What the fuck is this car? They can’t honestly drive that, can they?”

“Not everyone has the money to buy a cool car like yours.”

“That’s true,” Elliot concedes, sending a loving look at his pickup truck parked nearby. The flames painted on it glow in the sun, glorious. Maybe he’ll go for a ride later. He missed his car. “OK, you ready? Usual track?”

“You bet I am!” Ron starts running before he even finishes his answer, and Elliot smiles. The teen has a lot of energy on him and he’s always tensed when he’s been left behind for a couple of days. After more than a week, he seems almost manic. A jogging can do him some good.

Elliot catches up with him and sets the pace.

The day can’t start in a better way.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate is a weirdo following weirdos. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I want to really *really* thank you for leaving me kudos! I definitely didn't think my little fic would be followed by anyone, it was such a nice surprise! A great boost, too!  
> On another note, I promise the story is going somewhere ><   
> For now, PI!Kate is on the case, and she's not that good. Poor her x)

Kate reflects at what she’s currently doing, and she smiles. It’s such a weird feeling to be crouched out of sight in the staircase of her own building, squinting at the guy who finally got out of the 2B door... She never did something like this before, and the feeling is indescribable.

She didn’t have to wait for too long after her initial round of observation. She has found numerous hideouts in the building and around, and her car is ready too. All in all, she’ll never be more prepared than she is.

She dares another look in the corridor and recognizes the guy. It’s the one who was seated on the couch, not the disfigured one who answered her the day before. She didn’t have a lot of time to look at this one. She remembers vaguely he had a beer bottle in hand and a big gun in front of him. He had looked at her coldly, almost menacingly. She stops and shakes her head. Now is not the time to think about that.

Now, _he_ is the prey.

Smirking, she dares another look in the corridor and realizes there’s no-one hereanymore. Great. She has already lost him? She should have seen him in the staircase!

She’s moving to go look into the corridor when another door opens. Granny’s door. Kate ducks into her hideout once again and, sure enough, the guy is now passing near her. He has a small note in his hand and he’s reading it, allowing Kate to stay hidden without being seen.

Kate waits a little before following downstairs. She sure as hell doesn’t want to lose him!

On the first floor, she hesitates when she hears the sound of keys opening a lock. She comes down another pair of steps and looks at the guy entering into an apartment. She recognizes it as being the apartment of the kid she met a few days before.

What. The. Hell.

Her target is not out of his apartment for five minutes, he’s already been in two different neighbors’ home! She takes out her pad and writes down:

_TARGET ONE 10:14am –_ _Granny (paper given) – neighbors downstairs (_ _he_ _has a key)_

_Hypothesis: Local mafia??!!_

She takes out her camera and activates it. She really wants to take some pictures. It seems like this guy has tattoos. If she can have a clear picture of it, she’ll Google them. Maybe it’s a gang sign of some sort?

She’s writing down “ _tattoos!”_ when the door opens once again. She looks at the guy reaching the doorway in a few steps. She waits a few seconds before following him silently.

God, he’s fast! Kate stays distant, trying to decipher his direction. He doesn’t go very far, stopping on the parking lot. She wants to go to her car but ducks behind a low wall at the last minute. The guy is so close it’s uncomfortable…

She realizes she’s right near the trashcans and groans. Just her luck.

Looking from behind it, she watchesas the guy circles her car, a blank look on his face. She takes a few pictures and prays to not be seen or heard.

A few minutes later, she grabs her camera again, because the teenage kid, Ron, that lives on the first floor appears and goes straight to her target. So… he was waiting for Ron. Obviously. Kate takes pictures after pictures of the two of them. They talk, seemingly at ease with each other. The guy she follows has put sunglasses on and he talks animatedly. Like they know each other. They’re still near her car and look at it from time to time. She wonders what they’re talking about but can’t approach without being exposed. Damn.

Suddenly, the boy surges forward and starts to run. The guy looks briefly at him before following. Kate wonders for a minute if the teen tries to get away from the man or if they’re just going to jogtogether. Their clothes are sportswear but it can mean anything, in this day and age. Cursing, she straightens and runs to her car. No way she’s staying behind!

 

 

 

Okay. So, maybe she’s sometimes a little over-dramatic. They are definitely running around the block. No chasing, Ron has slowed down to wait for the guy and now they’re running side by side. Kate waits at a red light and looks at them.

Who runs this late in the morning? It’s nearly noon, for God’s sake!

She takes a few more pictures but stops when she notices a couple on the sidewalk, giving her the side-eye. Right. She may want to be less obvious when she’s taking pictures of a teenage boy from an old car. That’d probably be for the best.

 

*****

 

It’s late when Kate comes back home. She’s exhausted, completely drained but in the same time she’s also elated. She did it! A whole day of trailing a guy, and he didn’t realize a thing. She’s sure of it. She opens the door and crashes into her couch, sighing.

Mike smiles and puts away his book to make room for her. He must be in the middle of his homework, papers and books everywhere. She finds refuge in his arms and sighs contentedly.

“It’s been a long day.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” she replies with fervor, “stalking is way harder that movies want you to believe.”

“Hm,” he kisses her forehead and looks at her with curiosity. “Okay, I’m dying to know! Tell me all about your day already!”

“Well,” she straightens and takes Mike’s ancient laptop, suddenly full of energy once again, “I followed one of the 2B neighbors. And it’s really two guys living here, by the way. I checked the mailbox.”

“Of course you did.”

Kate throws a glance in her boyfriend’s direction and proceeds to download the pictures she managed to take during the day. They’re both silent during the download, eager to see the result.

Kate smiles victoriously when the first picture is slowly displayed on the screen. It’s a blurry picture of the tattooed man. She points at him.

“Here he is! Neighbor number two, the tattoo guy!”

“Tattoo guy?”

“Yes, I didn’t catch his name today, but he must be...” she looks at her pad, looking for the names displayed on the mailbox, and finally finds them “… T. Rios or E. Salem.”

“Hmm… Was the other guy latino?”

“What?” she frowns, looking at her boyfriend.

“The other neighbor,” Mike repeats, “was he latino?”

Kate thinks about it and shrugs, “I suppose he was tanned, yeah.”

“So, I think _this_ guy,” he points at the screen, “is Salem.”

“Oh! Yes, it makes sense… Thanks!”

“Totally welcome. So, explain already! What did Salem do?”

Kate waves enthusiastically with her pad.

“He was away the whole day! I totally trailed them.”

“Them?”

“Yeah! Let me show you...”

A beep indicates the end of the download, and the couple settles more comfortably on the couch, the laptop perched on Mike’s knees. His books lay next to him, totally forgotten.

“First, he went into Granny’s apartment. And left with a note. Then he opened an apartment on the first floor and totally let himself in! Like, he had keys and all!”

“Really?” Mikes looks at the picture of, well, Salem. This one is not blurry and Kate can discern several tattoos. She smiles in victory.

“Yup, he didn’t stay long, though. Went outside and began circling our car. Can you believe it? Like… Totally looking down on it! Like it’s crap.”

“To be fair,” Mike interrupts her, “it _is_ crap.”

“Yeah, well… We _know_ that! But only *we* are allowed to acknowledge it!”

“Got it, he should have worshiped it for the beauty it is. Silly me.”

“Stop interrupting,” Kate pouts, looking at her boyfriend with her best puppy eyes. Mike just smirks and incites her to go on.

“Ron, the kid here,” she says while pointing at the young boy on the screen, “met up with him, and they went running together.”

Mike nods and dutifully looks at the dozens of pictures his girlfriend took of the two guys running around the block.

“See? They went this far! I would have died if I tried that!”

Mike opens his mouth but closes it when he notices the glare on Kate’s face. She pointedly nods before continuing.

“They ran for two good hours before stopping. I nearly ran out of gas, so I had to stop and refill the tank. Luckily, I could find them again quickly.”

She finds a picture she particularly likes and stops on it, intensely looking at it. Mike nudges her a few moment later and she snaps out of it. “Sorry. It’s been a long day,” she smiles before continuing, “Then they went in the park.”

Mike nods and looks at new pictures, this time involving people lounging in the grass and children playing in the background. The green scenery is relaxing. In the forefront, Salem and Ron are exercising, doing what seems like a weird version of push ups.

“They stayed for another hour. These guys are weird, I’m telling you!”

Mike smiles at that. Kate can’t blame him. He knows how averse she is of anything resembling sports.

“Then, they went shopping.”

Mike stops to stare at his girlfriend. He looks back at the screen, displaying the two guys in sportswear and stares some more. “They… went shopping?”

“Yup, grocery store.”

“Oh, I see.” He blinks when a picture appears, clearly taken behind a shelf, a cereal box obscuring a third of the image.

“I kinda lost them there. A security guard showed up to throw me out.”

Kate sighs and shakes her head. That had been a stupid guard. And a stupid store. She definitely won’t take her business their way anytime soon!

Next to her, her boyfriend is surprisingly silent and she looks at him, only to find him in a fit of silent laughter. “Oh, come on! That’s not _that_ funny.”

“You… You got kicked out of the store?!”

“Yes, they thought I was a thief or whatever. I didn’t have the time and I didn’t want to attract the attention of my targets, so I was not in the mood for an interrogation. It kinda degenerated from there.”

“Oh god… I sooo lost my day, staying here. I can’t believe you got kicked out of a store without me.”

“Next time I’ll bring you. We’ll be kicked out together. Bonny and Clyde style.”

They smile at each other and take a moment before pursuing.

“Okay, so, after that, it took me a moment to find them again. A few hours.”

“A… a few _hours_?!”

“Yes, they were nowhere to be seen. I’ve had *so* much trouble to find them... I finally run into them by mere luck!”

She shows him a new picture, this one clearly taken from behind a trashcan. “Oh, Kate...” he sighs and shakes his head, “why didn’t you come home?”

“Going home? When all I had was the guy running, exercising and doing some shopping? Are you mad?”

Mike looks pointedly at the trashcan picture and at her again, and she elects to totally ignore that. She looks at the screen instead. “Anyway, I think I missed the good stuff, because they were merely going back home.” She scrolls through the pictures until she reaches the end. The last one is a close-up of the 2B mailbox. A shiny tag is displayed. **T. Rios – E. Salem**

Mike sighs again and finally puts an arm around Kate, pulling her close.

“Are you happy now? Can you put it behind you?”

Kate looks at him, surprised.

“You can’t think I’m going to stop after Day One. Do you?”

“What?” Mike lets go of her and stares, taken aback. “But… You saw there’s nothing wrong with this guy! He’s had perfectly normal activities!”

“Yes, but! Look at his bag! When he and the kid got home! Look!”

She goes back a few pictures and Mike looks warily again. On the picture, Salem is clearly carrying a huge black bag.

“So?”

“Are you not a tiny bit curious about the bag? Maybe it’s more cash! Maybe it’s drugs!”

Mike closes his eyes and pushes the laptop away.

“I thought today would be enough, Kate. Listen to me, you can’t become obsessed with these guys.”

“I’m not obsessed with them! I just want to understand them! Put them into a box. Then, I’ll stop.”

She nudges him and smiles sweetly when he relents and looks at her again. “I promise.”

Mike sighs.

“I’ll take you to your word, y’know?”

Kate nods and eagerly sets herself against her boyfriend’s side, hoping the discussion would go away. The truth is, she’s positively mad at herself for missing the good part. Stupid security guard. She vows to be a better P.I. and to solve that case. In the meantime, she’ll wait until next morning for Mike to go back to college. Then, she’ll begin her search of the meaning of Salem’s tattoos. If there’s something to know about them, she wants to be on top of that. And fast.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parallel discussions on both sides of a wall.   
> Kate has been so obsessed with her work, she has kinda forgotten her relationship. Next door, Elliot's living Mike's problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! o/

Ten days.

It’s been ten days already.

Kate looks at her pad in dismay; the fifth pad that got obliterated by speculations, hypothesis and other activities related to Rios and Salem.

Maybe she should just stop. She’s clearly not the brightest PI there ever was. She’s pretty pathetic at it, actually. It’s a blessing she’s not due to have actual results; that is personal, and not her job. She’d suck _so bad_ at this job.

Sighing, she sends the offending pad flying to join the others on the growing pile sitting on her desk. Looking upfront, Kate finds herself nose to nose with the schedule displayed on the wall. Her neighbors’ schedule and all of their favorite places in town. It’s scribbled down to the point of not being readable by someone else than herself. Pictures and notes litter the desk. There’s not one spot left free.

Okay.

Maybe she has some issues, here.

Looking at her watch, Kate frowns. It’s nearly 4 am and she’s in the little closet she claimed as hers. It’s the smallest room of her house, that might have been a dressing room for other tenants. The only light around is the small desk lamp she installed, in order to not wake up her boyfriend at night. The enclosed space makes her feel safe and kinda important. Here, her searches can take another level. She frowns some more and grabs a pen. So what, if she trailed two guys for more than a week? If she tried to learn their patterns, their activities, their lives? She feels like she’s been given a free leave to doing so the day they scared her speechless, cookies in hand; a violent and unexpected vision in front of her.

Sighing, she goes back to look at all the pieces of the 2B puzzle.

She can do it. She can. She _will_.

 

*****

 

A while later, Kate finally puts down her fresh pad and her pen. She stretches and reviews the summary of her research. She tried to compile everything she knows. Everything she learned.

First, the jobs. She’s at a loss about that. Salem seems not to have any. For all she knows, he’s constantly out, and doing the same things over and over. She’s never seen a guy run this much. Ron runs with him on the week-ends, if the last two are a good indication. They’ve met to run together on Monday and Thursday’s afternoons, too. But even without the young man, Salem has run by himself every morning. She didn’t bother to trail him each time, his route is always the same and it takes him the same amount of time. No surprises here. She meets him after at the park, anyway. Her disguise is now complete, and he has never even looked in her direction.

Anyway, Salem’s routine is an easy one, for now. Running, exercising at the park. Engulfing junk food and bottles after bottles of beer at local fast food places and dinners.

That’s when he’s staying on the neighborhood. It seems to Kate that this guy is physically incapable of staying put. To summarize, he’s always moving, but never does something of importance. Working out and eating. Running errands. That’s the only things Kate saw him do.

As far as she can tell, this guy doesn’t have a standard job. Not once it looked like he did.

Rios... either. Or it’s a stay at home kind of job. This guy is much more intimidating than Salem, and Kate has been relieved to follow him not as much as the other one. He seems more of a solitary guy, rarely out of his apartment. When he does, it’s always with a purpose. Kate has seen Salem on the parking lot, doing nothing. She’s seen him staying at the park an entire afternoon, talking to random people, just… hanging out. She’s not seen Rios doing that. At all. The only times he got out has been to go to eat with Salem, to run errands and to meet a girl.

Kate is actually pretty pleased with herself with this one. She looks one more time at the pictures, excitedly reminiscing the scene. On Wednesday, Rios took his car, a huge pick-up, and drove a few minutes to park at a dinner. There, he met a young woman. They talked for a while, and then files changed hands. The woman seemed displeased to have them handed to her, but took them nonetheless. Taking pictures of this exchange has been the highlight of Kate’s week, really. She smiles to herself. She brilliantly trailed this guy and saw actual dubious activities. That is _so_ a win.

It’s something she never could do with the other neighbor. Four time this week, Salem took his bike (a completely Mad Max looking bike, in Kate’s honest opinion) to go out. Kate lost him _each time_. The man was fearless and a complete danger on the roads, circling around cars, not stopping at red lights and the like. Impossible in these conditions to know where he went, and to do what.

Frustrating.

Maybe he went working somewhere.

Maybe they really _are_ mafia-related.

 

“Kate? Are you in there? Again?” Mike’s voice reaches her from behind the door and Kate unconsciously closes the laptop shut. She bites her lips and looks at her watch again. Great, it’s way later than she anticipated. She has to stop losing track of time like that. She springs on her feet and opens the door. Mike is there, in nothing but his shorts and Kate doesn’t let him time to grumble. She reaches and kisses him. He laughs a little in the kiss and takes a step back.

“Why are you in such a good mood? A reason for that?”

“No, but I think I’m so close to finally get it! And then, I’m gonna be free again!”

Mike frowns, looking a little taken aback. He takes a step back and shakes his head. “You do know you’re free now, right?”

“You know what I mean.”

She sends a last look behind her and stretches, yawning. She senses more than sees her boyfriend physically walking her to the kitchen and onto a chair. Her eyes lit at the sight in front of her, though.

“Oh, breakfast! What’s the occasion?”

Mike sits down across the table and looks at her for a few seconds before answering.

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

That stops Kate in her tracks. Damn but her mind is blank. She puts on her best innocent face, racking her brains for clues.

Mike seems disappointed. Oh, god no. What did she forget? She planned to spend the day canvassing the neighborhood for clues… She did some grocery errands the day before… What the hell is she forgetting?! Blank blank blank!

“I took my day off, remember? We were supposed to spend it together? I promised you?”

Kate tries not to look too dumbfounded. Fuck. She totally forgot that! It seems they spoke about it _ages_ ago! She realizes with a pang it has only been two weeks, when she was feeling lonely on their new big apartment. Mike did promise her a day together. She had been _so glad_.

Wow.

So many things can change in two weeks.

“Oh.”

“Yeah… Finals are over, I took time away from my job...” Mike shrugs, “This is our day.”

Kate smiles enthusiastically and tries to obliterate the guilty feeling she senses in her guts.

“Wow, time flies! That’s… That’s great!”

Mike is still staring at her, with this look on his face, and she wants to scream at herself. What a self-centered, petty, pathetic girl she can be!

Her boyfriend must have sensed something because he blinks and smiles, reaching across the table to take Kate’s hand.

“Ok, so you forgot. So what. Means I’m going to get to plan it the way I like it, after all!”

Dread fills her when she realizes she promised to make plans for them. Mike is so busy… She, on the other hand, has literally nothing better to do.

 _Except spying on the neighbors_ , a mean little voice in her head tells her.

“Kate? Sweety?” Mike sweeps his thumb against her hand and she starts. He’s smiling, even smirking a little. “You spaced out again. I said, finish your breakfast and take your shower, I’m gonna think of a program. Yeah?”

Kate nods but she already knows she won’t be able to eat anymore. Her stomach is in knots.

As she goes to the bathroom, she tries not to cry. She truly doesn’t deserve Mike. _But I’m going to make up for him_ , she thinks as she hurries, shaking her head to clear away the cobwebs and her utter exhaustion.

 

*****

 

Elliot is not happy.

At all.

He angrily eats his breakfast (cereals and milk, a part of cold pizza and a beer) sat at the counter of the kitchen and eyes fixed on his boyfriend. In front of him, Tyson is on the couch, surrounded by papers. Elliot is almost sure his partner didn’t even feel his staring, focused as he is on the laptop.

It has to stop.

These days, Rios’ obsessions have taken a turn for the worse. The man has been locked inside the apartment for _days_ , now. He eats only when Elliot gives him something. He has basically stopped _living_. Elliot scowls at the laptop, as if it’s all its fault.

Well, maybe it is. In a hypnosis kinda bullshit, or whatever.

But Elliot’d rather bet on the guy who _lives in it_.

Section 8.

Somehow, Elliot is sure he can trace the lead back to this guy.

How a nameless, faceless _stranger_ can incite so much erratic behavior from a (normally very smart) guy like Rios, Elliot will never know. It’s beyond his comprehension.

The merc finishes his drink and crushes the beer can between his fingers.

That’s it. Section 8 is really ruining his life, now. Yes, he knows he sounds over-dramatic, but truth be told he doesn’t give a shit. He could be in a laser-tag game, right now. Or out to see a movie. But instead, he just emerged from sleep. Rios didn’t move him to get up earlier. Rios doesn’t have plans for today. He doesn’t do anything other than the strict minimum.

It’s _lame_ , and it’s got to stop.

For Elliot’s peace of mind. And Tyson’s health, probably.

Elliot gets up and walks to the couch. He eyes Tyson, arms crossed in front of his chest. No reaction. The bigger man is typing away on his keyboard, incomprehensible lines of leet followed by other lines, and Elliot nearly loses it.

“Tyse, you got a problem.”

When his partner still doesn’t react, Elliot starts to gather the papers dispatched on the couch.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” Rios’ hand lands on Elliot’s wrist, effectively stopping him. The two mercs find themselves nose to nose for a while, each frowning at each other. The air in the room suddenly feels colder, the tension rising. Elliot shakes himself free and growls, as if defying Tyson to pick a fight. He’s had enough with subtlety. Time for a wake up call.

“I’m doing what you should do on your own. Throwing away all this shit. It’s all gibberish, don’t even try to make me believe you were actually working, here!”

Tyson takes back the files from Elliot’s hands without answering. Elliot sets his jaw.

“Don’t black me out. Don’t even try. You know how I can be annoying when I want.”

“What do you want, Elliot?” Tyson’s voice is tense, his eyes cold.

Oh, yeah. He’s in too deep. It’s gonna be hard, this time.

“What I want? It’s simple. I want my boyfriend back.”

Tyson rolls his eyes and turns back to the laptop. Elliot grabs it and takes it, closing it in the process. Tyson lets out a gasp in outrage.

“You did _not_ just do that.”

“Oh, I did.” Elliot takes a few steps back to stay out of reach from his partner, the laptop warm in his hands. “You’re not yourself, right now, Tyse. Over tired, stressed out–”

“Not to forget pissed off,” Tyson growls. Elliot shakes his head and stubbornly stands his ground.

“What the fuck are you doing with your time, Tyse?!” he nearly shouts, feeling his fingers tightening around the computer, “It’s worse than ever, and it started out of nowhere!”

Tyson doesn’t stand up to retrieve his laptop. Elliot counts it as a win. Instead, the bigger man closes his eyes and puts a hand on his face. He looks tired, like that. Exhausted.

A moment passes and Elliot feels the tension diminishing. He still doesn’t dare to move, stuck in a defensive stand next to his own damn couch. Tyson looks at him and sighs.

“Fuck.”

Elliot understands the sentiment. He’s feeling pretty much the same, at the moment.

Taking a few steps closer, he reaches the couch and sits next to his boyfriend. The silence settles, but it’s not that tense now. Much more relaxed. Elliot can breath again.

It’s looking better than what he was bracing himself for. Maybe he’ll get answers, this time.

“Talk to me, Tyson. What’s going on? What is so important that you can’t do anything else?”

Tyson sighs again and looks at his own knees. Elliot puts the laptop on the small table, on top of a gigantic pile of files. Fuck but these fucking files are fucking _everywhere_.

When Tyson still doesn’t answer, Elliot fills in the blanks. More by habit that consciously, but still. He keeps talking, hoping that his partner would be willing to let him see what’s happening in this complex head of his.

“Since we’ve got home, you’ve finished some reports, you went to grab a few fast food stuff with me, that sort of shit, yeah. But you’ve also been tense. So tense, fuck. You stayed inside while I’ve been working out. Well… you stayed inside, period. You haven’t been outside for five whole days, Tyse. It’s not normal.” He braces himself before continuing. Maybe Tyson needs to hear all of this shit. Here goes nothing… “It’s a level of bad similar of the shitstorm of two years ago. Eisenhower’s death. Frigging hell in Irak.”

Tyson tenses visibly next to him but still refuses to talk. The silence is not good on Elliot. He keeps on talking, stubborn. “In 2003, I got it. We all have our mean to cope. And, yeah, I know: the conspiracy. You keep repeating it, I can’t forget about this shit. What I mean is, I understood your reactions. It seemed... normal. Normal for you, anyway.”

Tyson sends him a look and the young man shrugs. Tyse knows how he feels about his conspiracy theories. Total bullshit, all of them.

“What I want to say, it’s… now? I don’t get it. Our last mission was uneventful. The kind of shit we pull all the time. And yet, your reaction is basically the same one. Maybe a little less violent, but still. And I don’t get it.”

Elliot fidgets a little under his partner’s scrutiny. Rios looks at him this way every time they have a talk. Like he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing. Elliot scowls. Well, tough. He knows where to look, with Tyse. He knows when something isn’t right.

And now?

Something is definitely wrong.

Tyson sighs and shakes his head, laughing a little.

“I see… I guess I can always count on you to call me on my bullshit.”

Elliot nods, a smirk forming on his lips. Damn right.

“I guess I owe you an explanation,” Tyson goes on, looking more and more tired. Fuck, when was the last time he slept?

“What made me tick is not the mission. You’re right about that. It’s the delay for our way back to Miami. That’s what’s wrong.”

Elliot stares at him. “The delay? Are you serious?”

Tyson shrugs and looks at his hands, crossed on his knees. “It’s not that it is a delay, it’s that Dalton won’t tell me why. And he won’t tell me why we weren’t allowed to return on a commercial flight.”

Elliot nods at that. It wouldn’t have been the first time they’d had to take a commercial line to go home. Sometimes, it’s just cheaper this way. The only problem is their weapons. They have to let them behind, to be shipped back to the States in a more secure way.

“He ordered us to stay, Elliot. That’s not normal. I sense something happened. I tried to ask Alice about it, but she doesn’t seem to know any detail. She confirmed there had been a commotion this day at HQ. But she doesn’t know why.”

Tyson looks Elliot right into his eyes, determined.

“Maybe it has something to do with the other shady things I suspect at SSC. It’s a good lead. 8 and I, we’re trying to get confirmation on it.”

Elliot closes his eyes, frustrated. So, he was right. Tyson is yet again deep into this shit. He forces to remind himself he’s in love with this guy. That this guy is actually smart and a strategical genius. Because right at this moment, it’s kinda hard to believe.

“I see.”

“No, you don’t. And I know you don’t,” Tyson shakes his head when Elliot lifts an eyebrow, “But don’t ask me to completely stop that. It’s important. I sense it’s important for both of us, but if you don’t believe me, at least acknowledge that it’s important to me.”

Elliot whines in defeat.

Well, at least he has answers. It doesn’t mean he has to like them, though.

“Tell you what,” Tyson goes on, putting a hand on Elliot’s shoulder, “I’m gonna be a little less… focus oriented. Promise.”

“You mean completely obsessed? That’d be great, yeah.”

Tyson tightens a little his grip, but it’s tempered by the playful look on his eyes. Elliot laughs.

“Okay, let’s start by today. Let’s do something together, for once. All of that can wait ‘til tomorrow.”

Tyson nods and stands up, his joints audibly protesting at the sudden move. As he leaves the living room, Elliot smiles. Rios may be a dork about those things, but he always listens. He’s _his_ dork, and that’s what matters, in the end.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate doubts about her life choices when she finds herself at a crossroad and has to make a choice.  
> Fortunately, Mike and her friends are here for her!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the delay for this chapter! I have no excuse, really... ><  
> I bring an extra long chapter, to make amends. I hope you'll like it!  
> Enjoy!

Kate looks at her reflection in the mirror and sighs. She’s not sure about anything anymore. It’s been two days since the Awful Forgotten Day of Leisure, and she’s still feeling guilty about it. Sure, the day itself went well. Mike made sure that they had a good time and he knows her taste well. They have a lot in common, that’s why they started seeing each other at the beginning, even if they were not studying on the same part of their campus. It seems that college was years ago, now. And she graduated only a few months ago.

She toughs it up and raises her chin defiantly. Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day she’ll figure everything out. What the hell her neighbors are doing with their life, what she will write about in her first novel…

She stops in her tracks, in the process of grabbing her handbag.

_What the hell was that thought?_

Her novel…

She didn’t think about it since… Since her moving in this building, actually.

Kate sits on her bed, in shock.

She’s supposed to write for a living. She’s a writer. Her parents paid good money for her years of college, and she went there like a good girl and finally graduated. Yay. But at the end of the line, her calling is to _write_.

She won’t become a PI. Or any sort of detective. That much is clear.

Why didn’t she think about her actual job for so long? It’s been days, now.

No. It’s been _weeks_.

Kate looks at her bag still on the floor. Her trusted ‘partner in crime’ as she dubbed it. Full of all the things she’s taking with her for her ‘espionage’.

_What is she doing?_

She’s putting her life on hold… and for what? _Why?_

How is Mike putting up with her?

On an impulse, she gets up and grabs her phone. The line is quickly connected.

“Mickael Sunstone speaking.”

“Oh, thank god! Mike, I need help.”

“Kate?” her boyfriend drops his business voice at once, clearly surprised. “Is everything alright?”

“No. Well, don’t worry! It’s nothing, really. It’s just… I –,” With horror, Kate suddenly hears herself crying. Worse, it shows in her voice. Fighting the tears, she tries to take back control of herself.

“Oh whoa, breathe slowly! Tell me what’s going on.” She can tell Mike’s alarmed now, and she suddenly wishes she didn’t call at all. Following his advice, she starts to take deep breaths. It helps. A little.

“I’m sorry, Mike, I shouldn’t have called. I don’t know what I’m doing, I… I think I need to talk.”

“Okay… Okay. I can be home in twenty minutes.”

Kate shakes her head, forgetting he can’t see her.

“No! No no no, don’t come home for that! I’m being ridiculous. I’m fine, I can wait til tonight.”

“But you’re obviously not fine.” She can hear Mike tapping his pen on his desk, a habit he does when he’s deep in thoughts. Kate waits, feeling sorrier and sorrier to have alarmed him for nothing.

“I can manage,” she eventually tries again, “It’s okay, really.”

“Really.”

He doesn’t believe her. It’s obvious. Before she can answer, he goes on. “I know, I’m gonna call Chris and Jimmy. If they’re free, they can be at the apartment in no time at all.” He interrupts her when she tries to protest, “No, Kate, I’m not letting you alone when you’re miserable. It’s… Now is not a good time for me to skip my job, but that doesn’t mean I’m dropping the ball. You hear me?”

Kate nods then answers weakly. “You’re so nice… I’m sorry –,”

“Don’t be, sweety.” He _is_ so nice Kate could start crying again. But she knows better. She’s too grateful to start worrying him all over again.

“It sounds like a good idea, actually. It’s been too long since we last saw them. We’ll wait for you tonight, how does that sound?”

“Sounds like a plan! Listen, I gotta go… I’m sending a message for the boys, they’ll be there, you’ll see. Have a great day, beautiful.”

Kate answers and disconnects the call, numb. She’s still a little disoriented after her sudden sobbing but one thing is sure: when Mike sends her a text message saying “The boys are coming! Brace yourself for serious comfort!” she’s feeling miles better. Even in the other side of the city, her boyfriend proves once again he’s perfect.

 

*****

 

In the apartment next to hers, the twice damned neighbors are planning their next mission, unbeknownst to Kate. It’s a routine mission, once again. Elliot is feeling reasonably optimistic about it. Since their ‘talk’, Tyson has tried to be less obvious about his new obsession.

Less obvious doesn’t mean he stopped, but then again Elliot didn’t get his hopes that high up in the first place. The mission, on another hand, means his stubborn partner will have to take a break.

Breaks are great.

Breaks while in a mission, the Army of Two reunited to take names and kick some serious ass, are better.

He prepares his weapons, whistling and happy. They’re ready in a record time and they start to bicker playfully while taking the staircase. After one too many provocation, Tyson pushes him and Elliot catches himself with his free hand, grabbing the banister and swearing loudly. In front of him, two guys stare at them and hastily move away. The merc doesn’t have time to look at them too closely before Tyson laughs in response of his flailing and takes the lead, a goddamn smirk on his lips. Elliot rolls his eyes and follows, always following this man and loving it. He completely ignores the men who are stuck on the spot in their little corner of stairs. His mind is already away, in a sea of blood and adrenaline. The anticipation of a good hunt is pumping in his veins.

This mission will be epic. He knows it already.

 

*****

 

Mike spends an awful day. He’s staring at the clock so much even the customers notice. He tries to be subtle about it, he really does… but Kate is worrying him. She was in such a state on the phone. The young man purses his lips and absently taps his pen on his desk.

She worries him for a while, now, if he’s honest with himself. Her little obsession with the neighbors turns into a real ‘obsession’, in a clinical term. He’s not that good in this field, but he begins to suspect she’s in need of psychological help.

Maybe the new neighborhood doesn’t suit her. It’s a little away from her parents’ home. Her friends are moving on with their lives without her and she doesn’t seem to care about it.

All she cares about are the damn neighbors.

In moments like that, Mike regrets to have promised her not to talk to them. They can’t be that bad… Can they?

He realizes there are bad men in this world. But what Kate describes can only be met in fictions. Al Pacino’s movies, this kind of stuff. He seriously doubts there’s something wrong with them.

To be honest, he’s more nervous about the old lady living across the corridor, trigger happy as she is. She’ll hurt someone if she continues to carry her shotgun around like that…

Mike is in the middle of an internet research about the regulation of firearms in Florida when yet another customer interrupts him. Internally sighing, he automatically smiles and resolves to wait until the end of his shift to take action.

 

When he finally goes home, Mike doesn’t really know what he will find. He’s sure his friends are there, they kept him informed about their whereabouts by texts and that’s the only reason he didn’t rush to the apartment sooner.

He figures they tried to cheer Kate up from whatever was bugging her this morning. He enters the apartment with caution, apprehending the mood. Chris loudly cheers him from where he’s seated and Jimmy stands up on unsteady legs to hug him as if he’s just returned from war. Kate is hunched over her laptop, smiling at him serenely. When he extirpates himself from his friend’s grip (and god, who knew this scrawny geek was so _strong_?) he joins Kate and Chris on the sofa while Jimmy throws himself in the chair with an ‘oof’.

His attention drifts to the screen of the laptop. There are pictures. Pictures of his goddamned neighbors.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Dude, we saw them.”

The strangely formal tone in Chris’ voice surprises Mike. He looks at his friend, then at Jimmy who nods gravely in confirmation.

“You saw… them?” he points at the screen, unsure.

“Yeah! You should have told us you lived next to serial killers!”

“No, no, we ruled out ‘serial killers’ hours ago!” Kate protests, and Mike feels like admitting defeat right there and now.

“Not you, too!”

“No but… they are huge! And when I say huge, I mean **huge**!” Chris puffs himself ridiculously to look bigger and Mike rolls his eyes in response before perusing in the mess on the little table in front of them. Kate points at glasses and adds “The vodka is back in the fridge. I cut them off hours ago. The shock made them have one too many, today.”

“But we needed to! We’re traumatized for life!” Jimmy protests and, yep, Mike can smell his breath from where he’s seated. Kate is an angel.

“I’m sure crossing the path of our neighbors in our building has been very trying.”

He’s joking but the two guys nod enthusiastically, the sarcasm going right over their head.

Okay. He’s going to need a little of that vodka in him. Like, now.

He goes into the small kitchen to fetch the bottle and some orange juice and pours himself a drink. He welcomes the burning sensation after a hard day at work. Around him, his friends continue to talk about the damn neighbors. He sighs and comes closer to Kate and her laptop, trying to understand what his life has become.

Poking Kate makes the desired effect and she calmly explains. Chris and Jimmy have knocked on her door in a state of shock after their encounter in the stairs and she explained to them what she’d been doing the last few days. Apparently, their imagination is running wild too, unless that’s the vodka speaking. They tried to decipher patterns in the lives of Rios and Salem ever since, trying to find out their occupation.

Mike sighs loudly.

“Did you actually meet them yet?” Jimmy asks while pouring himself some orange juice.

Mike shakes his head. “Apparently, my hours and theirs are not compatible. I’ve never had the opportunity. But I’ll know when I do, thanks to the series of shots my perfectly sane girlfriend took. Look, this one is taken from a few meters only!”

Kate sends her elbows in his side and he smirks.

“You can’t talk until you met them,” Chris says in a serious tone. “I smell something fishy about them. Jimmy does, too!”

Jimmy nods again, so enthusiastically that Mike is worried he’s going to slip out of the chair.

“I think you’re all over-reacting. These guys obviously like to work out – as your tendency to follow them _during their jogging_ tells you, Kate. If all the muscular guys were ‘fishy’, America would be in trouble.”

Kate is already shaking her head. Oh boy, they’re not going to drop it, are they?

“If it was just work out, I’d know it! You don’t train this hard without a goal! And how do you explain the bags full of cash? The multiple weapons! Heavy weapons too, I checked online.”

Mike raises his arms in frustration.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! As long as we don’t go poking in their business, there’s no reason it should impact us at all! You met them and lived to tell the tale, after all!”

“Well…” Chris answers, frowning, “You’re not wrong.”

The betrayed look Kate sends in Chris’ direction is so funny Mike tries hard not to laugh. It’s not the moment, not when he got a point!

“I think you should just drop it, Kate… The reality would probably just disappoint you at this point anyway. You imagined them with each and every background possible and I don’t think you can take the disappointment that ‘bouncer at a lousy club’ or ‘in between jobs’ can bring you.”

“He’s got a lot of points,” Chris says, surprised. Jimmy seems impervious to his deductions, munching his straw and frowning. Not surprising.

“Buuut,” Kate whines, clutching her laptop with a death grip. Mike reaches for her hand and tries to make her let go.

“Kate, sweety. Do you remember this morning? You can’t go on like that. For your mental health and mine, don’t you think it’s time to move on?”

Now the betrayed look is directed at him and that’s not funny at all. Mike tries to keep his resolve. He can do it. She may not see it, but she needs him now.

“You can always ask them what they do, but if they’re this scary maybe it’s best we just ignore them. Maybe someone in the building can tell instead?”

Kate shakes her head, looking miserable. “I already asked the neighbors, but I can’t ask those who know them. They’ll tell on me.”

“Er… Who would tell on you?”

“You know, Granny and Deborah. These people.”

“I… see.” Mike is not sure he understands what the depressed woman living downstairs can do to them, but he won’t tell it out loud. Maybe it’s better if they never know a thing about the two guys anyway.

“Maybe you can ask one of their girlfriends?” Jimmy suggests suddenly. He awkwardly shrugs when they all look at him with surprise. “What? They could tell us!”

“I’m not sure they have any girlfriend, actually,” Kate answers, unsure.

Mike looks at her, taken aback. “I thought they were… you know… together?”

Now, all eyes are on him and Mike understands the urge to shrug a little better. He points at the picture of the two guys instead. “Come on! Do you know any other reason for two guys to live together?”

The scandalized gasp from his friends makes him suddenly remember that, yeah, Chris and Jimmy are actually living together, since he moved out.

Oops.

Mike makes the mistake to look at his girlfriend. She cackles loudly and leaves him to fend for himself. Traitor.

“I just mean… Come on, these guys don’t look like college students!”

“Excuse you! Not all guys leaving together--” Mike mentally blokes the rest of the rant and sighs while looking at Kate again. She’s still amused but also rolling her eyes, the perfect picture of what Mike feels himself.

“Okay, okay, that was badly said of me, bad me,” Mike interrupts while raising his hands in front of him. “I’m just saying, it’s a possibility and an assumption I made, that’s all.”

All fall silent and look at the picture. Kate stares and sadly shakes her head. “Whoa, but I’m a bad PI… I never even thought about that.”

Mike moves his arm to encircle her shoulders and laughs a little. “Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know… And who cares, really?”

Kate doesn’t answer, lost in her thoughts. Chris and Jimmy look a little peeved by Mike’s antics, but at least it diverted their attention from the neighbors for the time being. Small mercies.

“Well. Here goes this investigation,” Kate finally says with a self-depreciating laugh. She sighs and puts her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. Mike smiles and tightens his hold on her.

“Don’t worry, as I said, you’d only be disappointed by the truth. You have a perfectly fine imagination, use it to fill in the blank! And then, move on.”

Kate goes still in his arms. Really still.

Fuck.

What did he do, now?

His girlfriend straightens and looks at him with huge, wide eyes. Mike stares back, not paying attention to his two best friends nearby. The guys are silent anyway, probably carefully watching their antics. Mike is not sure to understand what is going on, but he trusts Kate to deliver him the blunt truth.

“Mike… You’re a genius! A real freaking genius! That’s what I should do, of course it is!”

“What is what?” he asks dumbly, at a loss.

“I’m so bad at investigating, I’m taking a break. Yeah, it’s probably for the best. I don’t want no problem with these guys.”

Mike can only approve of that. But it doesn’t explain Kate’s excitation. He loves her dearly but he knows her well, too. This state is never a good thing.

“But!” Kate moves on, “I can use it! It’s too good not to, don’t you think?”

“… Use it? Use it for what?”

“Oooh, Kate that’s an excellent idea!” Chris interrupts her answer, clearly pleased, “You can totally use the premise. I’d buy that!”

“Me too!” Jimmy cheerfully adds, and Mike looks at them both with a frown.

“Guys, come on, help me out here. Use it _for what_?”

“For my first book!” Kate finally answers triumphantly. “What do you think about that? Isn’t it brilliant? It totally is!”

She’s happy, he can tell by the little sparks in her eyes, the smile in her face. She’s lit up from the inside. And suddenly, Mike understands what the morning was all about.

His girlfriend was worried about her job. Her book.

She needn’t have to worry, he’s more than determined to sustain them both. But he knows this spark of determination that animates her.

And she’s got an idea.

As Chris said, a premise.

Strange neighbors, secret lives… That would make a good mystery novel. Or crime novel, if she’s set on the ‘serial killers’ notion.

Mike beams in return, overjoyed for her.

Kate starts to talk animatedly about her new project and Mike feels himself relax, a weight he didn’t know was there suddenly lifted from his shoulders.

Kate has a plan, she’s going to stop stalking potentially dangerous people.

She’s going to be alright.

They are, really.

During this evening, surrounded by his friends and the love of his life, Mike finds the balance he was missing. He lets go of his nerves and his doubts and feels his spirits lift. Everything’s gonna be alright, now.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! And I bring another chapter!  
> Enjoy \o/

Kate spends three whole days curled up on her couch, typing away the plan she intends to follow for her first novel ever. She’s surrounded by the pictures she took of Rios and Salem, and her notepads. She takes her time, reading some of it, thinking, plotting.

She’s suddenly wondering when was the last time she had so much fun.

For what feels like the first time, she can look at the pictures without sensing a knot in her stomach. She can go through her notes without having this feeling of missing something, of being useless.

So, it turns out she’s a terrible PI.

Really. Terrible.

But! She has a fairly great imagination. When she doesn’t limit herself to reality, when she can create her own world… That’s when she truly shines.

So she doesn’t stop, stubbornly creating a good story and a good tone for it.

She has the time of her life.

Gone are the hours outside, trailing a scary guy and praying he doesn’t spot her.

Gone is the ‘obsession’, for lack of a better word.

 

*****

 

Elliot groans and lets himself fall in his seat in the pick-up. He’s fucking tired from the mission and the foul mood of his partner tires him even more. Hell, he’s basically exhausted. Tyson takes the wheel and doesn’t say a word while he drives them out of the hospital parking lot. For once, they’re in the same car, excusable as Elliot nurses his wound, his arm resting against his chest in a tight sling. Normally, they always drive in a separate way to the same goal, their home.

There are few people from the SSC who know about them. Alice for sure. People dealing with their paychecks probably. They have the same address after all.

But other mercs? Hell no. They have a reputation to maintain. A little hard to do if they’re out. Elliot doesn’t have any illusion on the matter. Not when everyone’s already jealous of their skills. Makes them mean.

Well… Maybe this mission is not a good example of said skills. He was a little too overconfident, a little too trusting… In short, he owes his life to Tyson. Again.

Elliot looks at his boyfriend and sighs. The wound looked impressive, especially in the dim light from the hellhole they were buried in. Enough for Tyson to worry, in addition to being really pissed off. It was Elliot’s own fault, his fucking mistake that injured him.

Tyson immediately asked for an emergency extraction, even if Elliot was convinced he was fine. Turns out, he was not _completely_ fine. It had required a minor surgery. But it was definitely better than what it looked like.

So there was that.

Anyway, as every time Elliot gets injured, Tyson worries. He falls silent and broods. Not the affectionate type but he worries all the same.

This time, with the whole mess being his fault, Elliot thinks he’s gonna wait a few more days before trying to shake him up.

Better safe than sorry.

The mercs move silently through the city. A city that is forever peaceful, so foreign from the hellholes of this world, from the horrors of war, from the nightmarish visions they are confronted to with every mission. Elliot is briefly jealous of people in the street, so fucking clueless… so unadapted to survival. The day war will come for them, they’ll be the first to panic, to cower, to die. He shakes his head to derail his train of thoughts. Worrying about it won’t change a thing. He knows people and he knows what they’re capable of. One thing is certain: he wouldn’t change his job for the world. The car is expertly parked in front of the building and Elliot stares at the windows in front of him for a while. On the other side, the neighbors are living their life, oblivious. Granny, Debbie, Ron… They are part of his world and yet, so different. They live in peace. Must be something else. Elliot reaches for his phone when he remembers that Ron isn’t there for the day. Fuck. He looks sideways and watches his partner watching him. Tyson’s frown is fierce. Well, there’s nothing for it, he’ll have to suck it up and deal with it.

“… Are you mad?”

Tyson doesn’t answer right away, seemingly content to just fucking staring at him. “You know, you can yell, ‘t’s not as if I didn’t deserve it.” Still only silence as an answer. The merc sighs and reaches for the handle to let himself out of the car. Except his sling goes in the way and the receding pain in his arm goes back at full volume. Oh, yeah. That. Next to him, Tyson sighs loudly and reaches past him to open the door. He invades Elliot’s space briefly and the young man holds his breath without even realizing it. Then Tyson reaches for his own door and goes out. Elliot hears his partner taking care of their stuff, groans and lets himself out as well. When Tyson is in one of his silent phases, the atmosphere is almost too heavy to breathe. He’s not sure Tyson is even aware of that, closed on himself as he is in these moments.

They move slowly to get to the second floor. Front door, mailbox, staircase. Elliot looks at Granny’s door and decides she can wait until next morning. He takes a mental note to check on the old lady, though. She’s in need of help in this season, in general. He gets his keys and unlocks his door slowly, his movements made sluggish by the lack of sleep and the ever-present pain on his side.

Then, he hears a knock on a door.

Surprised, he looks sideways. Tyson is posted in front of their neighbors’ door. What in hell does he want to do with them?

He doesn’t have time to ask. A young blond girl opens the door. Elliot vaguely remembers her. Cookie-girl… her name has slipped his mind right now. Apparently, that’s not a problem to Tyson.

“Miss Adams.”

The girl looks at Tyson, mouth gaping open. She looks in Elliot’s direction for a fraction of second and Elliot recognizes without a doubt the expressions that flick on her face. Surprise. Fear. Terror.

The door slams shut on Tyson’s nose but he doesn’t seem to care. He goes on talking as if the girl were still in front of him.

“I just wanted to tell you… To warn you, actually. Stop following us. We won’t be taking it nicely if you go on with whatever you’re planning. There won’t be another warning. Mind your damn business.”

With that said, the merc gently but firmly kicks into the bag he’d put on the floor. The bag slides and stops at Elliot’s feet. The younger merc pushes the door open and kicks the bag inside. The firearms inside click in a faint protest.

“What was that about?” Elliot asks when they’re both inside their home. He takes his boots off and makes a beeline to the kitchen. Comfort first.

“She’s been trailing us for weeks. I don’t need two morons in my life right now, thanks a lot,” Tyson replies while following Elliot closely. He grabs the beer bottle from Elliot’s loose hand. “The doc said you have to take it easy, Ellie.”

The younger merc tries not to groan. Of course Tyson heard that… No fucking privacy in these damned white halls. He watches the bottle disappear in the fridge once again and tries to not feel too disappointed. It’s harder than it should have been.

“The neighbor? Trailing us? Have you lost it? She’s cookie-girl! She bakes, she’s not a spy from whatever company of the month you’re convinced tries to kill us.”

Tyson rolls his eyes upwards and lets it slide. Somehow, it annoys Elliot even more.

“She has been trailing us. She _is_. It needs to stop. And if you didn’t realize you’ve been trailed all this time, I don’t know why I bother keeping you as a partner. She’s lousy at it.”

“Whatever. If you want. I’m not feeling like having the ‘you’re paranoid’ discussion today,” Elliot snarls in retaliation. Tyson ticks and frowns at him.

So he managed to annoy his boyfriend as much as his current mood. Fucking great job, Elliot.

He retreats from the kitchen and tries to think about it. To think about the last days spent in his neighborhood. Apart from the morning routine and the jogs with Ron, the occasional training at SSC’s HQ... he didn’t do much. A couple of fast food restaurants with Tyson. Wow but his life is boring, seen like that.

Even if Elliot claims the opposite, he has total faith in Tyson’s word. If Tyse says the neighbor has been trailing them, it’s true. He just doesn’t understand _why_. He won’t ask for Tyson’s opinion though. When Tyson is not stating facts, his theories tend to be… a little paranoid, to say the least. Since Tyson scared the hell out of the poor girl – _again_ , Elliot figures asking her isn’t an option anymore. With that in mind, he resolves to take another shower and get some rest. Tyson’s foul mood and the rest of the world will go on fine without him for a little while.

 

*****

 

Kate blinks, trying to regain control of her limbs. She’s on the floor, hidden behind her door, but at the moment she doesn’t feel so safe.

They know!

… God, they _know_.

What is she going to do?!

She feels herself panicking and tries to calm down, taking huge breaths and closing her eyes. She buries her face in her knees, still sat against her door, unable to do anything else. She tries to think.

It is hard, especially as the visit has been so sudden. So out of the blue!

Are they crazy, to scare the hell out of people like that?

It takes a long time to get her nerves under control once again and to stand up. She still feels like hell. Numb. Like she’s going to be sick. Kate goes into her bedroom and then into her safe-space closet. The small room is welcoming her, like always.

There, in the dim-lit room, surrounded by tons and tons of papers and pictures of the two men who’ve been invading her thoughts for weeks now, she finally breaks. She cries and thinks maybe she’ll never stop. She sobs and tries to breath and to stop, but to no avail. Nobody is there to make it better, and she thinks she had it coming.

Maybe now, she’ll stop with all of this.

It was definitely the wake up call she needed.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate moves on with her life. Without her obsession, it goes surprisingly well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Enjoy!

Kate emerges from the nearest cybercafé, her new package carefully resting in her bag. She bounces in the street happily, feeling as if this long path has not been in vain. She’s finally made it! Her first book is finished, ready to be sent to all the publishers of the state and beyond.

She grabs her bag and opens it, looking at the freshly printed pages waiting to be read. A weight lifts from her shoulders as she beams at her work. Mike’s been very positive about the story, even if slightly disturbed by it. Kate doesn’t blame him, it’s darker than what she used to write in college.

The story includes a gruesome murder, the mob and a criminal mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows. It dwells in a make-believe country with a tense political climate and the story only goes deeper as it unfolds. Kate even skipped the traditional happy ending, choosing an open, mysterious one instead.

Mike is a little worried that it’ll put off the publishers but Kate disagrees. It’s not a light story, and she would do it a great disservice if she’d settled on a weak, meek ending.

In retrospect, Kate thinks to herself as she returns home, crossing a deserted street in a quick jog, she’s in a better place than when she started this book. Writing has a calming effect on her. She’s putting her fears and her doubts on the paper, and only certain peace of mind remains.

Now, as she blinks under the too shiny sun, looking around her in glee, she’s feeling lighter. Happier. Gone is the stress of living near maybe-criminals bad guys. Gone is the overwhelming urge to solve the mystery of the little note slipped under her door. She doesn’t give a damn about her neighbors anymore. Kate breathes in fully, letting the fresh air settle in her lungs after weeks of confinement in her apartment.

She comes to a sudden halt as she enters the little parking of her building. In front of her, she can see her damn neighbor near his bike. Salem, her mind supplies needlessly. He’s talking animatedly with the young boy that is obviously his friend (Ron, her mind chips, never shutting up) and they’re fighting each other playfully. Ron falls on the ground seconds later with a curse while Salem bursts on laughing. He turns his head then and looks at her. Kate realizes she’s been stuck on the same spot, looking at the scene from the gate without moving. She settles for a small, fake smile on her lips and tries to force her limbs to move. Salem waves at her with a smirk and lends a hand at Ron to help the young boy on his feet. Ron is still talking, even if Kate is too far away to understand him. Salem’s attention is on his friend again and Kate breathes deeply. She can do it. She can cross the parking lot and enter her goddamn building. She does just that, mechanically, painfully slowly, and when she turns around at the door, she can see the bike bouncing out of the parking, carrying both men outside. Their shiny weird-looking helmets are easily spotted, even without counting the monster that is the bike in itself.

Kate enters the building and stays rooted in front of the mailboxes for a moment. She tries to breathe, reminding herself that it’s the first time she crossed path with one of the two neighbors since The Incident at her door, a few months ago. It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed, even if the interaction consisted only in a smile from her and a wave from the guy.

Her mind eye looks at the scene again and she realizes she could see his numerous and colorful tattoos again. His cast seems to have disappeared. The last time she saw him, he looked exhausted and hurt. It’s a far cry from today. She wondered a few times in the last weeks if the look on his face this day and his injury had been caused by Rios, his roommate/potential lover.

She has no way of finding out, of course.

But old (nosy) habits die hard, apparently.

 

*****

 

_Trapped in the too small room, the stranger groans. The surveillance of the targets is boring beyond belief, their life pathetic and chaotic. They have not once left a clue for a possible lead. Their entire social life are fucking SSC operatives and a teenage boy. Who is that fucking isolated? Seriously?_

_The boy in question, Ronald Carter, is too close to Salem to be reachable. It’s certain he’ll warn the targets at the first contact. Short to abducting him, he’s useless._

_And an abduction, while a good idea on paper, particularly when coupled with proper interrogation techniques, would raise unwanted suspicion._

_Apart from that, he finds himself left with nothing else to work with._

_They have no way to bug the targets’ apartment. No way to enter the building without being detected._

 

“ _Boss, you should see that.”_

_The voice of the man on monitoring duty brings him back to the present. He swiftly stands to attain the monitors and watches the scene displayed on it. Bringing his hand on his beard, he squints at the screen, his thoughts in motion._

“ _Hmm. The neighbor. What about her?”_

_On the little screen, the camera planted on the entrance of the building shows the familiar blond girl. She is currently staring at the mailboxes without moving. She looks lost in thoughts, which is not strange for her. A dreaming type._

“ _She greeted Salem, who waved back. In the parking lot,” the other man explains before rewinding the tape to show the scene at his superior._

_Said superior smiles. At last, something._

“ _You think they know each other?”_

“ _Well… They live next door, after all. Maybe they’re closer that we thought?”_

“ _Hmm, it’s a lead.” Finally. The tall man straightens and smiles. The guy seated next to him doesn’t dare to look at him, still fixed on the screen which shows the live feed once more._

“ _Bring me all we know about this girl, I’ll think of something,” he eventually says, looking at the screen once more. She looks young and lost. Just his type._

“ _Yes, sir.”_

 

*****

 

When Kate comes back at her apartment, she has the surprise to find Mike in there. Her boyfriend comes out of the kitchen and greets her with a deep kiss, bringing her closer to him with gentle hands on her waist. Kate happily obliges him before taking a step back, looking at him curiously.

“You’re home early, today!”

“Well, of course! Where would I be today, if not with you?” he blinds her with a sunny smile and Kate blinks with surprise. “So? How does it feel to have your book printed at last? Let’s have a look! I wanna see!”

Kate laughs and shakes her head. “You know I’m not published yet, do you? It’s merely printed and bound, now.”

“And it’s a fantastic step!” Mike sounds way more excited about it than her. It makes Kate smile gratefully. His support always meant a lot.

Mike takes them to the couch and bounces excitedly while Kate opens her bag and lets out a pile of printed scripts. She shows them off with a flourish and Mike accepts one exemplary with awe written on his face.

“It’s so great, Kate! I’m so proud of you.” She feels her face burning under the compliment and smiles happily. She lets her boyfriend peruse the pages carefully.

He seems to not be in a hurry. Did he take the whole afternoon off to be with her? Mike looks up at her and she suddenly knows he did just that. It’s just so thoughtful of him. She has every kind of luck to be here, with him. She kisses him on a whim, not knowing what else to say. He kisses her and then looks at her, stares at her even, before slowly smiling his brightest smile.

“I got a surprise for you!”

“Oh?” Kate is instantly curious. Mike’s surprises are rare. She’s generally the one to go out of her way to surprise him. She has the time and imagination for that. And… Thinking about it, he hasn’t surprised her for a long time, now. “What is it?”

“Wait here!” Mike jumps on his feet and sprints to the kitchen. Kate watches him go, curious about what her boyfriend has planned for them.

Her near encounter with the neighbor is pushed away and out of her thoughts completely, as she puts the pile of scripts on the table and braces herself for what is to come.

Mike comes back with an enormous wicker basket she didn’t know they owned. It seems particularly heavy and Mike staggers a little in his haste to show her.

“What do you think about a picnic in your park, sweety? To congratulate you on all your efforts! You more than deserve it!”

Kate looks at the basket and at Mike. She stands up excitedly, beaming happily at the prospect. She has talked a lot about the little park but they never took the time to go visit it together. Mike is so damn busy that moments together are rare. Between visits to their friends and their various occupation, they kind of let go of the idea. Kate had, at least. Seems now that Mike wants to have a look at it. Her park. Her favorite place to write.

Kate squeaks joyfully and grabs Mike’s arm with both hands.

“That’s such a good idea! Let’s go, I’m gonna show you every bit of it!”

Mike laughs and takes another bag waiting for them in the entrance that she didn’t notice was here. She looks at him curiously but he shakes his head, a constricted smile on his lips.

“Lead the way, princess! Let’s go see this marvel.”

 

*****

 

The late lunch is a lot of fun. Kate enjoys the food prepared by her boyfriend, and explains animatedly the various parts of the park that she explored. Mike doesn’t say much, serves her and listens to her talk about whatever she wants. She’s grateful for the moment, it’s making her whole day to spend time with the man she loves more than anything. He looks a little tense, which is kinda odd, but barely registers in her general good mood.

Mike receives several messages that make him groan with unease. He finally switches off the phone and puts it back in his back pocket. Kate sends him a questioning look, and he responds with a shake of his head. “Chris,” he says with a sigh. Kate bites back a smile.

The boys have desperately kept Mike close to them, as if worried that he’d forget about their friendship now that he lived in another part of Miami. They see each other very often and the boys can’t seem to be able to stop texting Mike. It’s hilarious and sweet, and Kate doesn’t mind in the slightest.

What’s odd is that normally, Mike reads her Chris’ or Jimmy’s messages out loud to make her laugh. The boys have a tendency to share weird thoughts and to have horrid conversations between them and it makes for great entertainment. But now, Mike doesn’t seem to care much about Chris’ quips.

Weird.

Mike focuses on her again and takes her glass to refill it with wine. He made an exception and bought a decent bottle, which is refined and a welcome change from the ordinary. They’re more used to plain water.

“Kate, you know I love you, right?”

She raises an eyebrow at the change of subjects and nods, a peaceful smile on her lips.

“I can’t even begin to… well...” Mike stutters, choosing his words carefully. Kate freezes, her glass suspended in the air without bringing it to her mouth. She stares at her boyfriend, who actually blushes.

She’s not used to seeing him other than utterly composed. It’s so weird.

“Yes, well, you know I love you too, Mike,” she says slowly.

Mike shakes his head and comes closer to her, looking at her seriously.

“I know, but I just want to say…” he swallows and drops his gaze on her knees, avoiding her eyes. “I’m so lucky to have you in my life, Kate. You brought me so much. Your joy, your motivation, your love… It’s all so important. I know I can be a little…” he shrugs, looking at her once again. Kate stays silent, frowning a little. “Well, I’m working and I’m kinda absent most of the time. I just want you to understand how _amazed_ I am to have you here, with me. I have been since this moment when you agreed to share a cup of coffee with me. When you dragged me to your world and allowed me to share mine. You can stand my friends and, well, it’s kind of a miracle of itself.”

Kate laughs a little. She notices Mike took her hands in his, and she feels her heart pound in her ribcage.

Is Mike doing what she thinks he does?

She can’t say anything, can’t interrupt him, so she just listens to him intently.

Mike grabs more and more footing, regaining his calm assurance that always appealed to her. He’s her rock, now more than ever.

“I just wanted to create the occasion to celebrate you, Kate. For all the things you do, all the crazy, wonderful things you are, and everything we have become, together. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been and I owe it all to you. Everything I do, I have you in my mind, and I want us to keep strong for a long time. Well… scratch that. I want us to stay together for ever.”

He lets go of her hand to reach for his pocket, and Kate wants to cry. She forces herself to stay composed, to not ruin anything, and she holds her breath as he shows her a little red case.

Mike straightens to be on his knees, and Kate follows suit without thinking. The food, the glass, even the blanket they’re on are forgotten, her whole attention fixed on her boyfriend. His eyes shine and he looks hopeful. Happy. Nervous.

Everything is so clear now.

Kate looks at him, adoration naked in her eyes. Mike opens the case, revealing a beautiful ring adorned with a single diamond. He grabs her hand again and smiles his softest smile. This smile can make her melt on the spot on its own.

“Kate. Will you marry me?”

She blinks, stunned, so happy she loses the ability to speak for a moment. Mike still looks nervous and hopeful and completely fucking gorgeous. “You’d make me the happiest, luckiest guy on Earth. I promise to make everything possible to prove my love to you, to make you as happy as I am.”

“Y… Yes, of course yes!” Kate speaks finally, regaining her senses. She squeaks happily and watches Mike’s smile turn into a dazzling grin.

“Really?”

“Really, you dofus! I love you, I love you so much!”

She doesn’t wait for his move to take the ring and give it to her. She bounces on him and kisses him. Mike, not expecting that, starts and laughs as she deepens the kiss. She’s feeling like she can burst from happiness. It’s surreal and sweet and unexpected and perfect.

They stay a long time on the blanket, lost in each others eyes and talking animatedly together.

Kate can’t wait to tell her parents, her friends, the whole world about her amazing boyfriend – no! _fiancé_ , and her complete happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, bear with me here, I need this development for my plot ahah  
> I know, I know, there's not a lot of the boys in this chapter, and Kate is *too* happy (and the proposal is awfully sweet xD)  
> I promise there's a plot! we can see it poking its nose now!   
> ... I can't believe it took me 11 chapters to describe Kate's failed trailing of the mercs x)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy a new chapter!   
> Things happen! Discussions are made!

Elliot is so fucking grateful to have regained the use of his arm, he’s barely able to stay in one place anymore. After the doc’s approval for removing the cast (finally, as Tyson has categorically refused to Elliot the right to remove it himself), Elliot senses his life is back on track. It took forever, though. Apparently, the injury he sustained had not be benign. At all. He understands Tyson’s anger a little better. Oops.

Elliot enjoys a few days with Ron, running errands on his bike and training with the young man. Ron is doing better and better, avidly listening to Elliot’s guidance. At 16, he’s not good yet, but he definitely has the potential to be. Elliot just can’t bring himself to push Ron in an intensive training. The young man tends to want to _become him_ , but… Elliot is not sure it’s the best thing to be.

It may be selfish, or a sense of protection for his small friend, but Elliot doesn’t want Ron to be on a battlefield. To see all the horrors he himself has seen. To become a murderer, able to kill people without a single fuck to give about it.

So, he trains him. A little. Mainly self defense and useful stuff. Lots of jogging and muscle training. Ron is happy to follow his lead but doesn’t want to overdo it, usually letting go of his efforts after a moment and asking if they can go grab some junk food instead. Elliot lets him. It makes it easier.

For now, Elliot enjoys a day full of sunshine in Ron’s company, carefully omitting the fact that it’s a Tuesday. Ron should be at school, learning stuff. Instead, he listens to Elliot’s bullshit, intending on learning it by heart. Elliot doesn’t ask. He usually doesn’t bother. It’s Debbie’s problem, not his. He knows Ron’s mother wants Elliot to _parent_ her child. Not gonna happen. Ron is _not_ his son, never has been. If anything, Ron is his little brother. Elliot loves to show him his world, and he’s not sure whether Debbie is aware of any of that or not.

Probably not. The woman is too much into her problems to care, most of the days.

Today, Elliot shows off his tattoos, explaining them even when he doesn’t have anything to say about it. Most of the time, he chooses them because they look cool. It doesn’t stop him from making up cool explanations for Ron, though.

He’s in the middle of it when his phone rings. Rolling his eyes, Elliot grabs it to take a look. Tyson.

He makes a gesture for Ron to keep quiet and answers quickly.

“Yep?”

“Ellie, where the fuck are you?”

“Around, in the neighborhood. What’s up?” Tyson’s tone is clipped and to the point. He’s in ‘pro mode’, and it brings Elliot to attention immediately. They have been on rest for a long time, now, because of his injury.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Shoot.”

“Not on the phone, it’s not safe. I need to speak to you face to face.”

“Okay,” Elliot answers, looking sideways at Ron. Fuck, the kid hates it when Elliot leaves on a whim. To be fair, he’s not fond of it either. “I’m coming home.”

Ron looks at him, betrayed. Elliot sends him an unimpressed look in return.

“No, don’t bother, I’m going out now. Have to meet Alice too. Meet us at the usual place. And, Ellie?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t get trailed this time. I’m not kidding.”

“Okay, okay. See you there.”

Elliot hangs up and looks at his friend.

“Sorry buddy, I gotta go.”

“Rios calling?”

“Yup. Now, don’t give me this look, you know we have to go, sometimes.”

“New mission? Where?”

Elliot hesitates. “I don’t know if it’s a mission yet. I’ll text you about it, okay?”

Ron sighs and lowers his head in a defeated manner before nodding dejectedly. Elliot tries not to smile at him. Sometimes, he can still see the 6 year-old kid he first met in this teenager, still lurking under the surface. Body language and gestures that never change. It’s adorable, but he’ll never admit it. Ron would be mad.

“You want a ride home?”

“Nah, I’m good. Go and see what Rios wants with you this time before he kills you for being late.”

Elliot smirks and shuffles Ron’s hair, making the teen start and curse at him at length.

The trip to the small coffee shop is uneventful. Elliot pays attention to his surroundings, as Tyson requested. He usually doesn’t bother with it in his civil life, letting this kind of stress solely for his missions and life or death situations. But Tyson didn’t seem to be joking, this time. He arrives at his destination and parks a little away, cautiously choosing to walk there.

Tyson and Alice are already seated at a table, of course. Elliot takes the time to order a coffee (black, ordinary, because he likes to surprise the barista used to fucking hipsters) before sitting next to Tyson, aside from Alice. Tyson has his back to the wall and Elliot knows with certainty that he has eyes on the door. Elliot entrusts the surveillance to him. Tyson will alert them if there’s something fishy going on.

“You’re late,” Alice tells him, a smirk on her beautiful lips. Elliot snorts and looks at her, brushing his leg alongside Tyson’s in a silent greeting for his boyfriend.

“I’m not. We never said a time of meeting. I had to make sure to not be trailed, too.”

Alice looks at Tyson. “Oh, you asked him to do that, too? What is it, this time, Rios?”

Elliot sips his coffee and looks at his partner closely. Tyson has his big hands around his mug, a dark look on his face.

“I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s classified intel I’m not supposed to have, but it’s _important_. I want both of you in the loop.”

Elliot straightens himself and shots a glance at Alice. She does the same, leaving her smile falter to frown at her friend. They fall silent for a moment, to scan the room and make sure nobody is listening to their conversation. Everyone except them in this place are hipsters. They are fucking everywhere, Elliot muses to himself while eyeing a young guy looking with a constipated air at his MacBook. After a few minutes, Tyson seems satisfied. He leans on the table and drops his tone. Alice and Elliot do the same, curious and a little worried.

“Remember our last mission in Africa? When they made us wait fucking days before allowing us to come back in the US?”

Elliot rakes his brain, trying to remember. It seems this mission took place an eternity ago.

“Yeah, I remember. We’ve helped the locals with the rebuilding of the city, waiting for the permission to go home.”

Alice frowns fiercely, nodding as well. “The SSC head quarter was a mess. No one would talk about it, but they upped their security measures after that.”

“And they had good reasons,” Tyson provides grimly. Alice and Elliot look at each other briefly before leaning more on the table, their curiosity picked.

Tyson looks at Elliot pointedly. “I know what happened. Section 8 figured it out for me. The SSC has been breached this day. Somebody took off with our two files.”

Elliot stares at his partner, blinking in surprise. “Our files?”

“Yeah. Our notes, our reports, everything about us. Nothing more.”

Elliot senses his eyes widen at the news. It’s not good. Not good at all.

Alice sighs and shakes her head. “Whoa… Now I understand. They made me hand over a few mission reports I had already submitted. It’s because they needed them and it _was gone_. It’s big, Tyson. Real big this time.”

The two mercenaries look at each other. In Tyson’s eyes, Elliot can see what must be in his. Grim determination, shock and anger to have been kept in the dark of this crucial intel.

Too bad they’re not supposed to know about that. Dalton would have had some explaining to do.

 

*****

 

 

Kate comes back from her parents’ place and enters her apartment with a grin on her lips. Since Mike’s proposal, she feels ecstatic. She’s happy to have the confirmation that her parents feel the same. They have always liked Mike, and the news of their impending wedding has been welcomed. Mike’s parents knew of their son’s intention before the proposal and they are happy for them as well. Kate is relieved to have everyone’s support on this. It makes things so much easier.

She had lunch with her parents. She and her mom had a nice, enthusiastic chat about all wedding things, organizing everything they could in their head under her dad’s appreciative gaze.

Kate puts her bag on the couch and starts to unpack the magazines her mom gave her. It’s all wedding centric and she can’t wait to peruse them. Her phone beeps and she takes a look at it. She has a few messages waiting for her. Jimmy sent her a list of artists. He seems to think they’d be great for the reception, as well as cheap to book. Kate smiles and grabs a pen to carefully write the names down. Mike sent her a few messages as well. It’s usual, but now the simple fact to see his name on display makes her heart leap forward. She’s so in love it’s becoming ridiculous. To her surprise, even Chris sent her something. Frowning, Kate opens it to look more properly.

“ _Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.”_

Kate looks at her phone and bursts out laughing.

Apparently, for Chris, Mike’s proposal has been the signal that Kate is in his group. Fully. She hasn’t had a choice in the matter, but now it seems that the man has adopted her as a real friend. The result is that. She has the great honor to receive dumb texts from him now. She doesn’t mind. They’re hilarious. And, truth be told, she’s happy to be integrated with the boys, too. She has always liked them, even when trying to live with them had tested her patience. They are both dumb, stupid, but also smartarses, genuinely great guys.

Now, she feels like she belongs with them. It’s a great feeling.

It occults the slight disappointment of the reactions of her college friends. When Kate called them and sent them messages about her wedding, she received cold, short answers of congratulations. She realized then that she didn’t really make a lot of efforts to keep in touch with them after she graduated and moved out of the campus. She has been too busy with her apartment, with Mike and The Mystery that had been her neighbors before she let it go. After that, her book took almost all her time. She remembers vaguely of offers to grab a cup of coffee she turned down. She just didn’t have time for this!

Also… she cringes as she thinks back of her group of friends. Their conversations had always been centered about college life. They talked about their teachers and assignments. About the boys on the campus. If she’s really honest with herself, Kate never had a lot in common with the girls. Even when they were all on the same campus, she was seen as the ‘group’s clown’. She’s still a little hurt, though. She had wanted to believe in their friendships.

Maybe a few months without news had been enough to make it die.

Kate shakes her head and sighs. Now is not the time to think about it. She can’t do anything about it at the moment. She can’t help but notice that none of the girls have tried to reach her, but it stops here. She’ll have to think about it. Maybe their friendship is savable before her wedding. She’ll have to decide if she really wants it, though.

Reading her last messages, Kate smiles and senses her spirit rise again. She has friends, and they’re actual parts of her life. She’s in the middle of answering their text messages when she hears a knock on her door.

She freezes and stares at the door as if it could bite her. The last time, her goddamn neighbor was behind it, and he threatened her. Told her he knew of her stalking activities. She’d been frightened out of her mind. A second knock makes her start and jump on her feet. She says “Coming!” and immediately bites her lips.

Why did she do that?! Now, she has to go and answer it!

Slowly, feeling as if she’s walking to certain death, she approaches the door. She keeps her phone in her hand, though. It can be useful to call for help. She has just the time to remember that she keeps a pepper spray in her bag when she opens the door.

She mentally berates herself.

Why did she open before knowing who it is on the other side? It’s like she’s asking for trouble, sometimes…

The man behind the door is a total stranger. Tall, well groomed, older than her if his beard is any indication. He smiles at her and greets her with a polite bow. Kate stares at him, not used to this kind of courtesy.

“Hello, I’m Greer. I was wondering if you know Tyson and Elliot? Living next door?”

He points at the 2B door, a questioning look in his placid gaze. Kate’s heart makes a jump in her ribcage. ‘Tyson and Elliot’. She finally figured out their first names! It fits, too. T. and E. indeed.

Without thinking, she smiles at Greer and nods knowledgeably.

“Hi! Sure I know them! I know them well, of course. Tyson and Elliot.”

Their names fit strangely in her mouth when she tries them out. She loses grip with reality for a few seconds, thinking them again and again.

Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem.

Suddenly, she realizes Greer’s talking. Guiltily, she tries to focus on him. Sadly, he just finished his sentence. She racks her brain and attempts to remember what he was talking about. No luck. She senses her cheeks reddening. It seems his last sentence was a question. She nods and smiles, hoping it’s going to work.

Greer smiles too in answer. Then, he moves forward, walks around Kate and enters her home. Kate is left speechless for a few seconds before she follows suit, berating herself once again.

She must have agreed to that.

Great.

The man looks around him and politely speaks again. “You have a beautiful home, miss…?”

“Oh, Adams. Kate Adams,” Kate answers automatically. She doesn’t know if she should invite him to sit or not. What does he want?!

She suddenly remembers her good manners. “Can I get you something to drink? A coffee…?”

“No, thank you, miss Adams. I can’t stay for long.”

She then notices a small package under his left arm.

“Oh, is it for your friends?”

The man turns to look at her again and smiles coldly. “Yes, I was to meet Tyson at 2, but he seems to have forgotten me.” He looks funnily at her, then. Maybe he already covered that. Oops. Kate sits and make a gesture to invite her guest to do the same. She hastily moves the magazines and her bag away in a pile to make room on the small table for the package.

Greer sits next to her and curiously looks at her moves. He frowns and smiles again.

“You have an awful lot of wedding magazines. A hobby of yours?”

“Er, no… I’m engaged,” she says with an awkward smile, reaching for her new ring. She’s still to be accustomed to the new weight on her fingers, but it already feels right.

Greer’s eyes widen. “I see. Congratulations on the lucky guy.”

Kate notices a cold light in his eyes. He starts to make her feel a little uncomfortable. She fidgets with her ring and nods without answering.

Silence settles for a few minutes. Greer makes himself comfortable. He either doesn’t notice Kate’s discomfort or he doesn’t care.

“So… You said you know Tyson and Elliot well?”

Kate tries to not bite her lips and to stay neutral. She nods again, cornered in her earlier lie. She moves away from the man on the couch and coughs a little.

There’s no helping it. She can’t let her neighbor’s friend know she had been lying. Who knows what this kind of guy is capable of?

“Yeah, they’re good friend of mine. We talk from time to time, we have a few things in common, you see,” she says, trying to stay vague on purpose. She has no idea what these ‘things in common’ could be. She prays for Greer not to question her about it. Hastily, she keeps talking. Maybe she can steer the discussion in her way, still. “Do you know them well, too? They never mentioned you.”

Greer laughs a little and shakes his head. “It’s not surprising. Tell me… When are you setting your wedding?”

Kate blinks at the change of subject. Is it her or did Greer try to stay vague as well?

She shrugs and shakes her head. “We don’t know yet, but we hope to do it this summer. We don’t want to wait, you see.” She smiles, remembering Mike’s excitement and her own. They don’t have a lot of money, they don’t want a big wedding with hundreds of guests. It will be easy to organize, counting on all her free time now she has finished her book.

Greer strokes his beard and eyes her, thinking. Kate automatically smiles. She suddenly wonders if this guy is going to stay here until the neighbors come home. Or worse, if he’s going to leave the package for her to give them, since they’re ‘good friends’. She starts to sweat. What did she do?! How can she make it through?

“I see. I’m sure it’s going to be a grand wedding. You’re going to look beautiful in a wedding dress,” Greer tells her. His smile is very like a sneer. Kate suppresses a shudder and forcefully keeps her smile on her lips. God, it is beginning to be creepy.

She’s opening her mouth to ask about her neighbors’ occupation (at least she can figure _that_ out) when the man looks at his watch and stands up in a hurry.

“Ooh dear, look at the time! I can’t stay much longer… I’ll have to come back another day, then.”

Kate stands up as well, taken aback.

“C… Come back?”

“Yes, you see, I can’t leave the package to your care… I hope you don’t mind,” he says apologetically. Kate tries to keep a straight face and sends her thanks to all the gods she knows.

“It’s not a problem. Thanks for passing by!”

The guy leaves hastily after that. Kate is left alone then, a little shaken by the whole ordeal.

She prays he won’t mention her to his friends. Maybe, just maybe it would be alright.

She resolves to never lie about things like that ever again, though. It’s not good for her heart.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate is moving on with her life. No, for real this time, really!   
> Elliot is training. Tyson is worrying.   
> Life is good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what, I'm not dead!! o/   
> Seriously, I'm sorry for the delay, I've been in hell... but now it's sensibly better in my life. Better enough for me to open AO3 again at last!  
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! See you soon!

Kate doesn’t concern herself with the impromptu visit of Greer anymore, after a few days have passed and she hasn’t heard a word from her neighbors. Good for her, she may still live after all!

Tyson Rios. Elliot Salem.

She’s happy to finally know their full names, even if the information has landed in her lap with no effort other than opening her door. It’s nothing to be proud of. Still…

In the afternoon, she searches for them on the Internet, only to be disappointed. They don’t seem to be listed anywhere. If they have an online life, it must involve some pseuds. Too bad, maybe she should have asked when she had the chance…

The phone rings and makes her start. She answers it swiftly without looking, surprised by the sudden burst of noise.

“Hello?”

“Kate sweety? I heard the great news, congratulations!”

Kate blinks. “Er, thanks?”

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” the voice asks, a laugh ill-hidden behind the playful tone. Kate shrugs with a rueful smile.

“None, but I’m about to know, right?”

“Right.” The burst of bubbling laugh puts her on the right track and she’s suddenly reminded of hazelnut eyes and dark hair.

“Mia? I’m so happy to hear from you!”

“Ahah! I knew you couldn’t have forgotten me entirely! I received your text but I’ve had a horrid month at work. I’m not burying you under the gory details but know that heads have rolled. I’m the new manager in my branch and I don’t know yet if it’s horrible or fantastic news.”

“Fantastic,” Kate decides after a moment. She smiles, “I hear news like that from all the members of our old gang. My own piece of news doesn’t seem to fly on the radar of most.”

“Well, they are idiots,” Mia declares with her usual flare. Kate can almost see her, even if the details are a little fuzzy. They have never been that close, seeing each other only when their mutual friends were hanging out together. “I think you and Mike were made for each other! … You’re marrying Mike, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Kate laughs. “He’s going to be glad to hear that.”

“He should, I have very good taste,” she responds, sounding smug. “Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you. I’m sure if one couple can make it, it’s yours. Only you have the bravery to face his horrible friends.”

“Oh,” Kate remembers, trying to stay neutral, “That’s true… You and Chris had a fling.”

“Talk about terrible mistakes! I can’t even look at myself in the mirror most days when I remember things like that. Alcohol is the invention of the devil, Kate, remember that.”

“Oh, I most definitely will.”

“Do you want to grab a cup of coffee sometimes? I don’t see the girls a lot and I’d be happy to catch up with you. What’s your life been like since college?”

Kate looks up at her wall and bites her lips. She’s in her little closet turned study, and surrounded by the notepads about the neighbors once again. In front of her eyes, pinned on the wall under the harsh light of the little lamp, the anonymous message they received is taunting her.

_You’re not safe here. 2B = dangerous people!_

_Leave while you still can!_

_Consider yourself warned._

Kate closes her laptop as if it caught fire.

“Not much! But I’d really like a coffee sometimes,” she promises, surprising herself when she realizes she means it.

“Great! I’ll leave you a message when I’m available, then! We’ll enjoy the beach bar I love, prepare your bathing suit!”

Kate thanks her and ends the conversation. She then crawls out of her lair and closes the door. From the bedroom, the study is invisible. She frowns and kicks the door.

“You ensnare me one more time and I burn you to the ground!” she promises her own room, trying no to feel silly as she does so. “I don’t fucking care about the neighbors anymore! I’m getting married, I have other things to do. Normal, not psychotic things, even! So there’s that!”

She grabs her bag and resolves to go to the boy’s. She and Jimmy have music to talk about.

 

*****

 

Once she let go of her obsessions, time flies for Kate. She is surprised to have so many things to do, so many tasks to keep her occupied. Now that she’s dedicated to it, she finds she makes some progress in these parts of her life.

She stubbornly goes from publisher to publisher and pitches her book where she can. She looks at advice online and follows those that are not complete bullshit. She tries very hard to get published, even if she doesn’t have a lead yet.

She knows she can make it. She just needs to be _more_ stubborn about it.

In the meantime, Kate thinks about what her next book will be. She has to keep creating to feel right. She doesn’t know what she’ll write about yet, but she’s not worried.

 

She sees Mia again. Several times. She slowly realizes she likes the energy of the young woman. They never properly met, in college. Not really. Kate had sent her a text message with the news of her impending wedding out of desperation that someone, _anyone_ from her old life would care. Even a little. She didn’t expect a new friendship out of it.

Turns out, sometimes, old friendships die. The ‘old gang’ never returns her calls anymore. Mia is all she has left of that time. They have a few memories in common from college, sure, and Kate doesn’t doubt they’ll have plenty of new memories from their adventures in town, now that they’re proper adults.

Mia turns out to be a funny, outgoing girl. She likes to party a little too much for Kate’s taste, but she proves herself an ally in a lot of things.

All in all, Kate is happy to have picked up the phone, that day.

 

The rest of her days are dedicated about the preparation of her wedding. Dammit, to think she wanted to have a small wedding!

Sleeping arrangements, flowers, location of the ceremony, insane amount of food, writing of vows… She’d be seriously in trouble without the help of her friends.

To be honest, Chris is not that helpful. It was to be expected so Kate is not surprised. Between his studies (this boy keeps repeating his corpus, it’s a little depressing) and the girls he chases after, he barely has time to be there.

Thanks a lot, Chris.

But his text messages are still hilarious, and his impromptu visits are always great fun. Kate doesn’t mind. She finds that she likes him as he is. The notion that Mike’s friends are slowly becoming _her friends_ as well is mind-blowing on its own.

On the other hand, Jimmy is _committed to help_ , surprisingly enough. Like Mike and Kate, he has finished his days in college. Unlike them, he doesn’t have a job yet. He says he’s looking for the ‘right opportunity’… not that Kate knows what it is.

Anyway, it’d be hypocritical of her to think less of him for that. Her own career isn’t exactly stellar either.

Jimmy has revealed himself to be an excellent wedding planner. Who would have known? More often than not, Mike is just too busy at work to be at meetings with Kate. Jimmy takes over during these days, and he expertly helps Kate with the big preparations. He finds that he has a knack for negotiation and employs his new skills with every person they come across. He comes up with excellent results. At this pace, the wedding is going to cost _less_ than expected.

All in all, all the preparations are made in time.

The wedding is going to take place in the end of summer, just as they wanted. Kate is over the moon about that. She didn’t think it possible.

She’s going to have to thank Jimmy big time for that.

 

*****

 

Elliot looks around. The little park is quiet but that is to be expected. There’s a bigger park nearby, which is proving to be favored by the families and nannies of the neighborhood. This little green space is all but forgotten. Only a few remain, like Elliot himself. He stretches, letting the sun warm him up nicely. Then, he looks around some more. Now that Tyson has reached full ‘paranoia mode’ again, Elliot tends to be more careful.

Like usual, some of his partner’s theories are complete bullshit. But the facts… For once, Tyson has facts on his side. He has been insufferably smug about it, too. It’s not a good sign for Elliot’s immediate future. A smug merc makes for painful times, in his opinion.

His mind wanders on said facts. His file missing. All his missions, his reports, everything about his less than pristine criminal record. Shit. Someone has been through a lot of trouble to collect data on him and Tyson. The SSC’s Head Quarter is a highly secured facility, always filled with trained mercenaries… Tyson suspects an inside job but Elliot doesn’t think so. The mercs are not stupid enough to do things like that. If it begins with the Army of Two, they can suspect that their files are maybe the next ones being pulled. Right?

“You look like you’re thinking. Stop that, it doesn’t suit you.”

The voice makes Elliot come back to the present. He turns around to frown at Ron. The kid has the gall to laugh.

“Sure, it’s not something that can happen to you, I can see why you’re so shocked.”

The young man smirks. “Yeah yeah, whatever.”

Elliot continues to stretch as Ron sits down next to him. His mind is delightfully empty once more. Let Tyson worry endlessly about stuff. Time to enjoy life. His morning routine is well in place, his movements practiced and coming easily to him. He half listens to Ron’s rant. The kid is unstoppable in his good days and it seems to be the case this morning.

Something finally catches his lapsing attention.

“Wait, what?”

“Like I’m telling you, man! I can’t _not_ go, Mum’s orders. It was really not the best time for her to come out of her stupor. Fucking selective moods.”

“She wants what?” Elliot asks again, momentarily stopping his press-ups to look at the kid. Ron is sprawled against a tree, the perfect picture of teenage unhappiness.

“She wants me to go to their wedding,” he whines, “Like I’ve time for this shit!”

“Whose wedding?”

“Hem, your neighbors’?” Ron looks at him like he already covered that. To be fair, he probably did.

“Cookie girl? She’s getting married?” Elliot frowns. “With who?”

“With her boyfriend, who lives with her.” Ron rolls his eyes. Elliot ignores him and tries to remember Cookie girl’s boyfriend and can’t find anything. He resumes his training, smirking.

“You gonna have to dress up, then.”

“Ah! As if. They’re gonna have to bear with me at my worst, and that’s that! Why did this woman have to invite us?” Ron dramatically sighs and slumps some more on his spot.

“Well, you’ll have to suck it up. Send me pictures of your tux,” Elliot sniggers as Ron groans.

“Told you, man. Not. Happening.”

Elliot thinks about Debbie and smirks. Ron doesn’t have a snowball chance in hell. She’ll want to make a good impression, if she bothers to show up at the ceremony at all. The merc starts counting his press-ups once again, briefly wondering how someone that young can be engaged already. Time flies for young people, it seems.

 

*****

 

_The military files opened in front of him, the man lets his head rest on his hand. He’s deep in thoughts and neither of the two men on the other side of the table dare interrupt him._

_Finally, he grins. His smile is unpracticed, eerie. His men tense visibly, not that he cares._

“ _Okay, I think we’ll have our shot at them. Soon.”_

“ _Er, when exactly?”_

_The man settles himself in his chair, enjoying the tensed silence, the expectations of orders from his underlings._

“ _The wedding,” he finally says. “They’ll be at the fucking wedding. We’ll strike there. Take them unaware. Nice and easy.”_

_He waits for the two guys to nod before unfolding the wedding plan. Time to get busy, they have work to do._

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We were at a wedding and suddenly... there is pandemonium!

Text messages:

**Elliot is in bold**

_Ron is in italics_

 

[1:13 pm] _fuk this is a pain in the ass_

**where R u?**

_wdding bluh_

**ahahahahahaa**

_shut up_

**=P**

_dont use emotes u old man u_

**Ur bitter**

**its normal Ur the 1 stuck**

_the ceremony wasnt bad but now its draggin and im booored_

**no cuties?**

_nope not really_

_just boring adults and KIDS_

**… R u at the kids table?**

**ronnie?**

_=(_

**AHAHAHAHAHAHA**

_STOP LAUGHING_

**its hilarious stuff ronnie**

**dont hit on girls tho Ur gonna have trouble wit the parents mhwahahaha**

_i dont know why i bother talkin to u_

**shut up u lov me**

_ahah keep tellin Uself that_

[1:26 pm] **so whats goin on?**

_we did the church &stuff now were at the reception_

_the couple is lookin at each other foreva and becoz of that they dontt cut the cake_

_i want cake ellie_

_survival stuff &shit_

**right**

**u didnt hav a meal first?**

_yea but it sucked_

_why R u not here dammit_

_we could make fun of people and shit_

_u wont believe some of the fuckin suits here… or the HATS_

_so many fuckin hats ellie_

**R u in a suit tho**

_not gonna answer that nuhu_

**knew it**

**we should hav bet fuck**

_ah! easy to say now oldman_

**no i really knew it i sswear**

_yea yea_

 

[1:39 pm] **so the cake any good?**

**ronnie?**

**kiddo?**

**ok I kno u dont like when i call u that im sorry**

 

[1:43 pm] **i said im sorry!!!!! ur big and stuff!!!1!1**

**ronnie?**

**U fell aslep on the kid table?**

**im sure u did, classic u**

 

[1:55 pm] **ronnie? U ok buddy?**

 

[3 missed calls from “Elliot” – no voicemail]

 

[2:02 pm] _ELLI HLP_

**ah ur here! U bein dragged to the danceflor? i cant help wit that buddy**

**Ull have to suck it up and dance wih the kids**

_no no no elliot we need help theeres ghuns and scrimin and shit and ITS AN ATTACK_

_im ufsgzhafaz_

 

 

*****

 

 

“What have we got? Get outta there, boy!”

Ron yelps as he’s dragged from under the table. A hand forces him on his feet and pushes him through the room. He doesn’t resist and lets himself be dragged to join the rest of the guests. Women are in tears. Men too, even the ones who try to protect their loved ones.

“Ronnie!” He hears his mother before she reaches him. He should do something.

He doesn’t.

As his mother takes him in her arms, Ron shudders. She’s whispering in his ear that it’s gonna be okay and puts herself between him and danger. He should not let his mom do this. He lets her.

From his spot on the floor with the other guests, Ron can see the entire room. Several tables have been flipped, the tableware lying everywhere on the floor. They’re surrounded by guys dressed like in movies. In black, with face shields hiding their face. Heavily armed, too. The man who dragged him from under his table is rousing a child who cries. The dad who wants to come help him is stopped, hit by a rifle butt. Blood everywhere as the man falls on the floor.

“I told y’all, don’t move from the fucking floor! The next one who tries to stand, I put a bullet in ‘im!”

The child is crying harder now, and a woman is in hysterics near Ron.

Why doesn’t he resist?

Elliot would do it. He does it all the time.

Ron feels fear in his bones, more scared than he’s ever been.

He spots a flutter of white near the end of the room. It’s the bride dragged by a big guy to the center of the room. She cries and tries to get away until the guy cruelly twists her arm in her back. Tears chock her.

“Kate, no! Don’t touch her!”

Ron watches with horror as Kate’s husband runs towards them.

He’s gonna get killed.

He’s gonna get killed and no one can help him.

Deborah chooses this moment to hug Ron closer to her and to shift so he can’t watch the scene anymore. A few gunshots make him jump. He doesn’t want to look anymore. Tears flow freely now that he closes his eyes. Kate has always been nice with him. He doesn’t want anything to happen to her or her boyfriend.

Kate yells, Ron can hear her. An eternity later, Mike yells too, it’s a wet sound but Ron has never been more relieved to hear someone. They didn’t kill them… yet.

 

*****

 

“Now, tell me where they are! They’re supposed to be fucking ‘ere!”

Kate is still coping with the acute pain in her arm. She’s near Mike who’s been easily restrained. He’s on his knees, there is blood everywhere on his suit, on his _face_ , and that scares her more than anything else.

“What are you talking about?” she sputters through her tears “Who should be here?”

“Don’t make fun of me, girl! Or I’m gonna make myself mad.” The man growls in her ear, pressed against her back “And you don’t want me mad.”

Kate shudders and sobs all the harder. The man suddenly twists her arm and the pain is more than she can bear. “I asked ya a question, girl!”

Other guys come to them, arms ready in their hands. They’re war weapons. Big, scary things that should not be there. Kate closes her eyes and tries to calm herself. It’s not working.

A new voice grunts near them. Another man in black.

“All good, boss. But they’re not anywhere.”

“Fuck! Where the fuck are they?”

Mike groans, still near them, trying to come to his senses. Kate freezes.

_Oh god, no. Mike._

They both are in the middle of the room, away from the guests, surrounded by crazy men with big weapons and short nerves. Kate is not even surprised when one of the men yells in the direction of her husband and targets him with his weapon.

“No!” she screams and trashes against her captor, tears flooding her face.

She can’t lose him. She _can’t_.

Before anything has the time to happen, a deafening noise erupts near them. Kate finds herself brutally pushed on her knees as her captor forces her down. Kate chocks on her tears as dust and debris fly everywhere, obscuring her vision.

_Mike… Please don’t be dead. Please, please, please…_

Kate suddenly senses the man releasing her with a curse. She stays a moment totally still, trying to convince herself she’s free. Finally, painfully, she frictions her right arm and tries to stand, too afraid to look anywhere but right in front of her.

“Kate...” Mike’s voice is near her and Kate reacts without thinking, reaching for him half-blindly. She reaches him and sobs freely in his arms while all hell breaks loose around them. Gunshots everywhere, bodies hitting the ground and horrifying noises she can’t replace. She stays crouched in Mike’s embrace and she can feel that Mike is shaking and weakened by the beating he took.

How did they end up like that?

Something touches Kate’s shoulder and she screams, her nerves more aflame than ever. She opens her eyes and sees a big man in front of her, his face hidden behind a metal mask. His hand is still on her, the other hand carrying the biggest gun she’s ever looked at.

“You can’t stay here, miss. We drove them away for now, but they’ll be back. Why would these guys have something against you?”

Mike stands and helps her to get on her feet. In front of them, even up, this man is _so_ big…

Kate looks sideways and sees a body, on the floor. In the middle of their cake, crushed on the floor after the table gave way. She can’t see the face of the dead man and she’s grateful for it. In the back of the room, her guests are slowly raising, and another man is barking orders at them. He’s got a mask on his face, and Kate immediately finds it frightening. His weapon is shining out, very noticeable in his hands. He seems to direct the guests away and reaches for the young Ron Carter. Kate half hears Mike answering the man next to them, without understanding the conversation anymore. She doesn’t care. She just wants to get away from here. Ultimately, she lets herself been dragged by the waist from the scene, towards the front door.

 

*****

 

Mike guides his new wife (wife!) slowly across the room, trying not to faint with every move he makes. Man, he took quite a beating. Not how he envisioned his wedding day _at all_. He has trouble breathing and wonders if his ribs are cracked. He hopes not. The frightening man who came to help them (is that a soldier?) lets them be and goes straight to Great Aunt Stephanie to help her up.

Oh god, his Great Aunt is on the floor, looking more pissed off than ever. That can’t be good. She’s yelling and Mike feels a little sorry for Chris who’s just near her. His pal’s going to complain about his eardrums for weeks after that.

The door is near, and Mike suddenly hesitates. Should he go check on his parents? Maybe Kate’s parents want to see their daughter, too…

But he decides against it. Kate is shivering, still crying softly, and all Mike wants now is to help her, protect her and comfort her. She’s his roc and now, he must be hers as well. He must be strong for both of them. They’re married, now. They need to count on each other.

Besides, his parents must already be on their tracks. Mike really wants some time alone with his wife.

“Kate… Are you hurt somewhere?”

They are at the door, now, and the sun dazzles him for a few seconds. He blindly leads Kate outside and tries to make sense of his surroundings. The first thing he hears chills him to the bones, though. The tell-tale click of a gun. And a hard voice snarling “now, now, at last a bit of luck! The happy couple of the day. Let’s not move and maybe everybody gets to go out of this alive, shall we?”

 


End file.
